New data shows that nearly half of all traditional hedge funds are now reportedly exposed to crypto assets as regulations start to become more clear. According to a new report by Bloomberg, a recent survey revealed that 47% of hedge funds in traditional markets had exposure to crypto assets, up from 29% in 2023 and […]
The post Nearly 50% of Traditional Hedge Funds Now Exposed to Crypto Assets Amid Growing Regulatory Clarity: Report appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Researchers cite a rise of interest in crypto staking, made possible by the Ethereum Merge and the appearance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as the major developments for custody market.
The digital asset industry reached over $3 trillion at its peak in November 2021. The custodial part of the market, however, remained at the more modest mark of $447.9 billion in 2022.
These numbers are cited from a joint report on the state of digital asset custody, conducted by the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and wealth tech platform Aspen Digital. The 39-page document was published on July 11.
The report puts the number of custody service providers at 120 as of April 2023, dividing them into two broad categories — third-party service providers and self-custody solutions. Among the key institutional developments in the custody market, it cites a rise of interest in crypto staking, made possible by the Ethereum Merge and the appearance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and Metaverse, noticed by institutional investors.
Related: Standard Chartered, PwC make case for programmable CBDC in China Greater Bay Area
The key challenge for the custody industry is, according to the report, security. Due to a lack of appropriate governance, risk management and internal controls, demonstrated by such cases as the FTX failure in 2022:
“Institutions are increasingly looking to safeguard their assets through self-custody solutions or reputable digital asset custodians, rather than simply holding them with exchange platforms.”
Another challenge for the custodians lies in the area of insurance policy. Self-custody solutions do not offer insurance policies and users are not compensated for any loss of digital assets arising from negligence. According to the report’s sources among family offices, sound insurance policies are an important criterion in choosing digital asset custodians.
The report suggests to investors a custody service provider selection approach, which includes five steps, including mapping the market, creating a grades system, performance review and other preliminary procedures.
Earlier this month, Canada’s financial authority issued guidance to help fund managers comply with law requirements for investment funds holding crypto assets. It also has confirmed its trust in the regulated futures market for crypto, which it says “promotes greater price discovery.”
Magazine: Peter McCormack’s Real Bedford Football Club puts Bitcoin on the map
PWC, one of the ‘Big Four’ auditors and among the largest professional services networks globally, recently published a report on FTX Digital Markets, the bankrupt crypto exchange’s Bahamian subsidiary. The report indicates that the entity’s accounting records have been limited, and it also noted that there is “little distinction between what represents potentially client monies […]
Ripio, an Argentina-based cryptocurrency exchange, has announced that it will expand its operations to the U.S. The company, which serves more than 4.5 million customers in Latam, received a license in the state of Florida to operate and will start offering its Ripio Select services to companies and institutional investors. Ripio Expands Operations to US […]
On Nov. 14, 2022, the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) published a press release that explains the ‘Big Four’ accounting firm PWC (Pricewaterhousecoopers) has been designated as provisional liquidator in the FTX investigation. The SCB detailed that “given the magnitude” of the events surrounding FTX, the Bahamas regulator recognized that it had to “move […]
An attacker gained access to PwC Venezuela’s Twitter account and has been actively posting cryptocurrency phishing links for the last 8 hours at the time of the writing.
An attacker gained access to PwC Venezuela’s Twitter account and has been actively posting cryptocurrency phishing links for the last 8 hours at the time of the writing. Considering that all the tweets posted by the hacker remain active, it is evident that PwC officials are yet to realize the compromise.
Investors clicking on the links remain at risk of being defrauded by the hacker. If not mitigated promptly, the threat may be catastrophic, considering that PwC Veleneula’s Twitter currently boasts over 37,000 followers.
Cointelegraph has reached out to PwC Venezuela to inform them about the hack. PwC Venezuela has not yet responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
Related: Elon Musk-crypto video played on S. Korean govt's hacked YouTube channel
BlueBenx, a Brazilian crypto lending platform, recently blocked 22,000 users from withdrawing funds following an alleged hack that drained $32 million (or 160 million Brazilian real).
Regarding the hack, an unnamed investor told Portal do Bitcoin:
“I think there's a high probability of it being a scam because this whole hacker attack story seems like a lot of bullshit, something they invented.”
The statement reflects a general lack of trust among investors in centralized crypto exchanges.
The official Twitter account of Big four accounting firm PwC, Venezuela, was compromised and has been used by the hacker to share links to fraudulent XRP token giveaways.
While cryptocurrency markets have seen poor performances during the first two quarters of 2022, a recently published fundraising report authored by Messari researchers notes that $30.3 billion was raised by crypto projects and startups during the first half of 2022. The $30.3 billion raised across 1,199 fundraising rounds surpasses all the funding blockchain startups and […]
It’s been a week of polarizing opinion in crypto news. Whether it’s cryptocurrency fund managers predicting $100K bitcoin by the end of the year, Peter Schiff saying things “will only get worse as the recession deepens,” or Bill Gates slamming crypto and NFTs, citing the Greater Fool Theory, there’s been no shortage of spicy debate […]
Major financial services firm PWC has conducted a study and found that the majority of crypto fund managers surveyed believe that the price of bitcoin would be between $75K and $100K by the end of this year. Bitcoin’s Price Estimate by Crypto Fund Managers PWC, a Big Four accounting firm, published its “4th Annual Global […]
Although traditional fund managers remain hesitant about investing in Bitcoin and Ether, their exposure to digital assets appears to be growing.
Traditional hedge funds are slowly embracing cryptocurrency investments but are keeping their exposure limited as the market continues to mature, according to new research from PricewaterhouseCoopers, or PwC.
In its 4th Annual Global Crypto Hedge Fund Report 2022, PwC said roughly one-third of traditional hedge funds surveyed are already investing in digital assets such as Bitcoin (BTC). So-called “multi-strategy” hedge funds were most likely to invest, followed by macro strategy and equity strategy firms, respectively.
Of the hedge funds currently invested in the crypto space, 57% have allocated less than 1% of their total assets under management. Two-thirds of the firms currently invested plan to increase their exposure by the end of 2022.
Respondents cited “regulatory and tax uncertainty” as the single greatest barrier to investing. Specifically, hedge funds are concerned about a fragmented regulatory environment globally as well as unclear guidance on how the asset class will be governed.
A total of 89 hedge funds were included in the survey, which was conducted during the first quarter of 2022.
Hedge funds and other traditional asset managers have been eyeing developments in the crypto sector to gauge whether they should begin investing in the space. While several hedge funds have launched crypto divisions and started investing in the space, the majority of firms remain on the sidelines. Interestingly, a 2021 survey of 100 global hedge funds revealed that managers expect to allocate an average of 10.6% to crypto within five years.
Related: What is driving institutions to invest in crypto? BlockFi's David Olsson explains
Although crypto assets have been in a protracted bear market for much of 2022, institutional investors appear to be buying the most recent price dip. Inflows into Bitcoin investment products, such as exchange-traded funds and Grayscale’s GBTC product, increased by $126 million last week, according to CoinShares. Bitcoin investment funds have quietly added over $500 million in net inflows this year.
