Institutional adoption of bitcoin is growing – Crypto weekly update

Published: 19. 08. 2021 · Author: Daniel Mitrovsky

This week, the total market capitalization exceeded 1.62 trillion EUR. Increase at the 7-day interval is 0.63 %. Bitcoin decreased by 1.45 % during the week to a current value of over than 38 300 EUR. Bitcoin dominance is 43,9 %.

Source: Coinmarketcap

Institutions continue to accumulate cryptocurrencies

The latest filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the second quarter of 202, revealed that at least four U.S. wealth management companies made indirect investments in Bitcoin.

So far, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has confirmed that four wealth management companies have acquired shares of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Investment Trust, the most popular investment tool for institutional investors.

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is an investment tool of Grayscale, the largest institutional digital asset manager. Institutional investors buy “Bitcoin Trust” from the company in the form of “shares”, where 1 GBTC share represents a value of 0.00093822 BTC, currently valued at $41 (€35).

MacroScope, a Twitter feed devoted to institutional trading and asset management revealed that at least four companies have made purchases of GBTC shares in the second quarter :

• Clear Perspective Advirors – a wealth management company from Illinois has confirmed the purchase of 7790 GBTC shares.

• Cleveland-based Ancora Advisors confirms purchase of 13,945 GBTC shares.

• Boston Private Wealth increased its amount of GBTC shares held from 88,189 to 103,469.

• Parkwood, a wealth management company from Ohio, increased its amount of GBTC shares held from 93,000 to 125,000.

Major firms are finding new and diverse ways to gain exposure to Bitcoin and other digital assets. Many institutional investors prefer to invest in cryptocurrencies indirectly via GBTC shares, because their cryptocurrencies are managed by a trusted digital asset manager and companies themselves do not have to worry about safe storage of cryptocurrencies. Source

ETH 2.0 staking contract ranks as single-largest Ether hodler

The latest data released by Alex Svanevik, CEO of blockchain analytics provider Nansen, shows that Ethereum 2.0 staking contract has surpassed Wrapped Ethereum (wETH) to become the single largest holder of ETH.

The data shows that the Beacon Chain’s deposit contract holds 6.73 million ETH — worth roughly $21.5 billion (€ 17.98 billion) at current prices. It means that Ethereum 2.0 now surpassed “Wrapped Ethereum (wETH)” tokenized versions of Ethereum coins, which were created mainly for better compatibility with the decentralized finance sector.

The third largest address holding ETH is an address called "Binance 7” owned by Binance crypto exchange, which currently holds more than 2.296 millions ETH.

Currently, Ether staked on Eth2 is locked up and cannot be withdrawn from the contract. Locking Ethereum into staking on the Ethereum 2.0 network is a strong positive signal of long-term investor confidence in Ethereum, as no specific date has yet been set for unlocking locked coins. However, experts expect this to happen in the first half of 2022, when Ethereum should switch to a proof-of-stake consensual algorithm. Source

Solana hits new ATH

Crypto asset Solana, which we also included in our Crowdamerica Index Portfolio earlier this June, reached its new all-time high of roughly $65 (€55). Solana has entered the top 10 cryptocurrencies ranked by market capitalization with a total market cap exceeding $18 billion (€ 15.4 billion).

Solana, considered by many to be one of Ethereum´s biggest competitors, is a high-performance proof-of-stake blockchain supporting builders around the world creating crypto dapps that scale today.

Solana has seen a substantial increase in popularity among developers and users in recent months. Just a few days ago, the total value locked in Solana has also gone for a record of its own at just over $1.9 billion (€ 1.62 billion)

Solana´s native asset, SOL, was still trading at around $1.5 (€1.27) in early 2021. Thanks to gains of more than 3900 % in the last eight months, Solana actually ranked among one of the best performers this year. Source

Cryptocurrencies as a part of the mortgage industry?

U.S. mortgage lender United Wholesale Mortgage is likely to become the first mortgage lender in the U.S. mortgage industry to accept cryptocurrency payments later this year.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the company will start by taking Bitcoin but is looking into Ether and other cryptocurrencies as well.

The notion of paying down a mortgage with cryptocurrency is not entirely new. Earlier this month, a Spanish opposition party submitted a bill that would allow such payments.

United Wholesale Mortgage is one of the largest U.S. mortgage lenders that had $59.2 billion in loan volume last quarter. In addition, the company currently employs more than 9000 employees. Source

Walmart is expanding its digital currency strategy

North American retail giant Walmart is likely planning to expand its digital currency strategy, after it posted a job advert for an experienced crypto expert who can develop and drive an ambitious digital currency strategy and product roadmap.

In the listing for the role, Walmart indicates it is looking for someone who has a track record in leading and scaling businesses, with at least 10 years of experience in product/program management and technology-based product commercialization. The ideal candidate should have expertise in cryptocurrencies and blockchain-related technologies and in-depth knowledge of the crypto ecosystem and its core actors.

The job advert was shared just a few weeks after Walmart's biggest rival Amazon announced plans to enter the digital currency market.

However, this job ad is not Walmart's first cryptocurrency initiative. Back in 2019, Walmart had already filed a patent for a blockchain-based United States dollar-backed digital currency. Since then, however, no new information has been shared about this request. Source

Curiosity : The transfer of Lionel Messi and the crypto assets

Argentine football legend Lionel Messi's new contract with French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain also includes some of the French club's cryptocurrency fan tokens $PSG.

According to the news provided by Reuters, French club PSG confirmed that fan tokens were included in his "welcome package," which media reports have estimated at €25-30 million ($29-35 million). The club did not disclose the proportion of tokens in the package, but said the amount was "significant".

Fan tokens are a type of crypto assets that allow holders to vote on mostly minor decisions related to their clubs. Among clubs to launch tokens this year are English Premier League champions Manchester City and Italy's AC Milan. Source

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