Cryptocurrency News Now!: Wall Street's Interest in Crypto Isn't Moving Prices, What Will?

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Wall Street's Interest in Crypto Isn't Moving Prices, What Will?

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MARKET

COIN	PRICE	24H

BTC	$7,146.676852	+2.5%

ETH	$411.05982	+0.97%

XRP	$0.413322	-2.63%

BCH	$710.0942	+2.59%

EOS	$7.167534	+2.52%

*Information as of 9:30 AM EST

ANALYSIS

Wall Street's Interest in Crypto Isn't Moving Prices, What Will?

WHERE'S THE PUMP?

In 2018, significant strides have been made to introduce institutional investors into the realm of digital assets including custodial solutions, new trading platforms, and more
However, though much progress has been made, there hasn't been the boost to prices investors had expected as Bitcoin is down more than 50% since December 2017 when CBOE launched Bitcoin futures trading
It is clear Bitcoin is in a much better position than a six months ago from an institutional interest standpoint, but if Wall Street's pure interest hasn't moved the price of Bitcoin, what will?

Reported by Quartz, Wall Street's interest in crypto has not boosted the price of Bitcoin:

WHERE'S THE ADOPTION?

Most notably, an ETF approval would bring positive news to the crypto market that could boost prices in the short term
Ultimately, though, for prices to continue to rise for the long term, mainstream adoption of the ETF must take place
Similarly, a lack of adoption could explain the lack of price movement even though Wall Street has been interested in launching new services and creating Bitcoin trading desks
For example, Kenneth Griffin, the founder of the hedge fund group Citadel commented that he doesn't "have a single portfolio manager who has told me we should buy crypto"

LOOKING AHEAD

It's unclear where the price of Bitcoin is headed but we do know that if more services continue to be created to generate significant adoption and mainstream investors join, Bitcoin holders will be rewarded

NEWS

Barclays Sets Up Team to Explore Trading Cryptocurrencies

CHANGE OF HEART

A few months ago, Barclays CEO Jes Staley ruled out the idea of launching a cryptocurrency trading desk at the UK investment bank and financial services institution
At that time, Staley commented to shareholders that cryptocurrency trading presented "a real challenge" for them
Now, however, Barclays seems to have had a change of heart as it has set up a team to explore how Barclays can begin trading digital assets

MORE THAN TRADING

Though the statement released only specifies that Barclays is exploring how it can start trading cryptocurrencies, one member of the new team, Lee Braine, has stated the benefits blockchain could bring to banking's processes

In a recent interview, Braine expressed his thoughts on blockchain technology's benefits to banking:

"There are clearly tremendous opportunities for startups in the blockchain space. For investment banking, blockchain-inspired solutions such as shared ledgers and smart contracts should aim to meet the enterprise-scale architectural non-functional requirements […] Different banks implement executable business logic, often operating in a similar way, within their bank. The opportunity here is for executable business logic common across banks, and shared ledgers may provide one potential way of achieving that"

INSTITUTION

Goldman Sachs May Be Launching a Bitcoin Custodial Service

GOLDMAN SACHS

Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is an investment bank and financial services institution headquartered in New York City
Goldman Sachs is one of the largest investment banks in the world with nearly $1 trillion in assets under management
The firm was one of the first large investment firms to get its feet wet in the cryptocurrency market by clearing Bitcoin futures trading

CRYPTO CUSTODIAN

Bloomberg is reporting that the investment firms is having internal discussions about starting a cryptocurrency custodial service
Crypto custody is a major hurdle for investment firms hoping to get exposure to crypto
Custodial services do already exist, but none outside of the crypto industry
Financial institutions are much more likely to trust another financial services company who is well established rather than a new crypto company

Goldman has not confirmed this rumor, but did say:

“In response to client interest in various digital products we are exploring how best to serve them in this space. At this point we have not reached a conclusion on the scope of our digital asset offering.”

WALL STREET & CRYPTO

Financial institutions and crypto have a polarizing relationship
Many notable investors and companies have spoken out about the emerging technology, but there does seem like there are as many bears as there are bulls on Wall Street
Regulation is the biggest impediment as of now, once that has cleared, it will be obvious who is a believer and who isn't

MINING

Bitmain Confirms Plans to Open Mining Facility in Texas

EVERYTHING’S BIGGER IN TEXAS

The cryptocurrency mining giant, Bitmain, has confirmed the rumors that it will be opening a crypto mining facility in Texas
Bitmain will be investing $500 million over the next 7 years to open a data center in Rockdale, Texas
The firm will hire 400 Texans to operate the facility and will also have education programs for potential employees

EXPANDING OPERATIONS

Bitmain, who is valued at roughly $12 billion, has made many moves over the past year to grow its business
Headquartered in China, Bitmain has been becoming more of a global enterprise and has had a focus on the United States
In addition to this newly confirmed Texas mining facility, Bitmain is also opening an office in Silicon Valley and another mining facility in Washington state