Replies to post #18332 on Bitcoin (BTCUSD)

[Investors3]

One River Makes One of the Largest Cryptocurrency Trades in History
By Tim Copeland
2 min read
Jan 5, 2021

One River Asset Management has made one of the largest ever cryptocurrency investments, according to crypto exchange Coinbase.

https://decrypt.co/53200/one-river-makes-one-of-the-largest-cryptocurrency-trades-in-history

One River has worked with crypto exchange Coinbase to invest an undisclosed amount in cryptocurrency. According to Coinbase, which carried out the transaction, its purchase represents “one of the largest digital asset trades in history.”

The initial trades were executed over a five day period at different speeds, in order to work through varying market conditions, the exchange explained.



Ki Young Ju ???
@ki_young_ju
·
17h
FYI, Coinbase outflow on Jan 2 was an all-time high. It seems institutions bought $BTC when the price above 30k.

$BTC bull market isn't over.

Over 35k $BTC leave Coinbase. Most likely OTC deals, institutional investors buying #Bitcoin.

chart: @cryptoquant_com

“The Coinbase institutional team provided exactly what we needed to execute this transaction discreetly,” said Eric Peters, CIO of One River.

Before this was announced, speculation had been building over growing institutional activity at Coinbase. Market observers have noted large amounts of Bitcoin being withdrawn from the exchange, suggesting institutional holders buying Bitcoin and withdrawing to long term storage.

On January 5, Cryptoquant CEO Ki Young Ju noted that 55,000 Bitcoin left the exchange on January 2. It is unknown whether One River's purchase was part of this big increase in withdrawals.

The case for cryptocurrency

One River recently made its case for cryptocurrencies in a post on its website, entitled "The Case for Digital Assets." In the post, Peters put forward a long term view that cryptocurrencies are the technology of the future.

"Owning these assets is a mere toehold to the future, a deposit on the view that everything we know about financial intermediation and its relationship to centralized policy will change in ways we cannot yet foresee," Peters said.

"Holding these assets over the long-term aligns yourself with the macro mega-trends of technological advance and currency debasement, both of which appear to be accelerating. And naturally, where this all leads, and to what valuations, will be determined by our collective imagination," he added.

[Investors3]

Here’s how institutional investors ignited Bitcoin’s rally to $40,000
January 15 2021 - 12:53PM

https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/COIN/BTCUSD/crypto-news/84105696/here-s-how-institutional-investors-ignited-bitcoi

Experts weigh in on the main events from 2020 that impacted Bitcoin’s price the most.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/here-s-how-institutional-investors-ignited-bitcoin-s-rally-to-40-000

BENJAMIN PIRUS
31 MINUTES AGO
Here’s how institutional investors ignited Bitcoin’s rally to $40,000
Experts weigh in on the main events from 2020 that impacted Bitcoin’s price the most.

From the COVID-19 pandemic to mass-scale money printing and social unrest, 2020 was a wild year. Alongside a barrage of newsworthy events, Bitcoin (BTC) also turned in a standout year in the price category, ultimately rising from $3,600 to past $41,950, besting its 2017 all-time high of $19,892.

A number of events, both crypto-specific and mainstream, appeared as catalysts for Bitcoin’s price action. Several crypto industry players weighed in on the events they believe affected BTC’s price action the most in 2020.

Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Anthony Pompliano labeled Bitcoin’s halving as the event with the greatest effect on the asset’s price action, according to his comments to Cointelegraph. “The incoming daily supply decreased and demand has increased significantly, which has led to an increase in the USD price,” Pompliano said.

Bitcoin’s halving occurred on May 11, 2020. The third such event since the asset’s launch in 2009, BTC’s halving resulted in miners receiving 6.25 BTC for block rewards instead of 12.5 BTC. Previous Bitcoin halvings brought price declines followed by sideways price action, although tremendous upswings eventually occurred after each halving.

The event in 2020 was no exception, as Bitcoin soared past record highs several months after the May event. The Bitcoin Stock-to-Flow model from analyst Plan B serves as a popular forecasting tool in the crypto space. The model predicts increasing future BTC prices based on halvings decreasing the asset’s incoming supply.

Pierce Crosby, general manager for crypto asset charting platform TradingView, told Cointelegraph about three developments that he believes impacted the value of Bitcoin the most in 2020. The first aspect he noted: “Consumer continued adoption, apparent in Coinbase’s planned IPO.”

Major United States-based crypto exchange Coinbase recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval to conduct an initial public offering. The move would take the company public, resulting in tradable company shares on the mainstream U.S. stock market. The news actually coincided with moderately downward BTC price action on the day of the development, although Crosby’s comment appears to indicate the IPO as simply a result of underlying and ongoing demand.

The “institutional adoption, seen in MicroStrategy’s treasury re-allocation to Bitcoin” was another rousing event on BTC’s price in 2020 according to Crosby. A slew of large mainstream companies unveiled large Bitcoin positions in 2020. It all began as billionaire hedge funder Paul Tudor Jones revealed his Bitcoin position in May 2020.

In the latter half of the year, business intelligence firm MicroStrategy picked up hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin. Other firms, such as Jack Dorsey’s Square and MassMutual, also publicized BTC purchases as part of a buying trend for big players.

Crosby also said, “the boom of DeFi and the corresponding leveraged products that were built by this space” affected BTC’s price in 2020. Last year, a bevy of DeFi solutions entered the crypto industry, giving participants new ways of leveraging their capital.

Resembling 2017’s ICO bubble at times, decentralized finance moved significant money around in 2020. Related assets saw dramatic price swings, while shady projects also surfaced during the boom. Meanwhile, in line with the hype, Bitcoin rode an upward price trend toward record levels after recovering from its COVID-19-related price drop in March.

Speaking of the pandemic, Cheds, a crypto trader and analyst on Twitter, said COVID-19 steered Bitcoin’s price significantly last year.

Cheds said:

“COVID by far had the biggest impact on $BTC #Bitcoin price in 2020, taking it down from 8K down to around 3K briefly.”

In March 2020, amid rapidly rising COVID-19 concerns and prevention measures, mainstream markets and crypto assets fell sharply in price. Bitcoin, however, rebounded more quickly than traditional financial assets. “Without a doubt, it sped up the process of finding a bottom, and since then, we have ripped back up to all-time highs, helped along by news of institutional investment,” Cheds said of the pandemic.

“Events like the public purchases of MicroStrategy and the addition of $BTC to PayPal’s arsenal have added a veneer of legitimacy that was missing, and help pave the way for even more of these types of investments in 2021,” Cheds added. PayPal unveiled the addition of multiple crypto assets to its platform back in October.

2021’s rally is driven by fundamentals, not FOMO

When asked what events had the least effect on Bitcoin’s price, Pompliano said, “most people’s opinion on Twitter,” with a smile. Meanwhile, Crosby pointed toward a detachment of Bitcoin from the political arena. “Very little impact came from politics this year, which is a substantial difference versus previous years,” he said. “We expect the impact of governments to be more visible with Bitcoin in 2021.”

Rounding out the year, the U.S. government proposed a ruling to monitor self-custodied crypto-asset wallets, for which the short comment period recently ended. The SEC also filed a movement against Ripple and its XRP asset in late-December. Both events could signal the beginning of increased government involvement.

Pompliano has often called Bitcoin a non-correlated asset when it comes to other financial instruments. An October 2020 report from Fidelity lends validity to such a view, concluding that Bitcoin holds virtually zero correlation to the price action seen across other markets.

Over the course of 2020, the world gave Bitcoin’s price plenty of headlines to react to. Some news events seemed impactful, while others did not, although definitively proving any direct correlation may be impossible.

[Investors3]

Institutional investors won't take Bitcoin mainstream — You will
ANDREY SERGEENKOV
JAN 17, 2021

Real-world applications and users, not institutional investors, will challenge the failing fiat currencies and increase Bitcoin adoption around the world.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/institutional-investors-won-t-take-bitcoin-mainstream-you-will

Similar to 2017 and the popular cryptocurrency bull run, last year created a fresh buzz in the world of crypto and Bitcoin (BTC) particularly. From setting new all-time highs to making various news rounds and capturing mainstream finance’s attention, the pandemic year was exciting for cryptocurrency enthusiasts and believers.

One conversation that perhaps stands out amid the buzz is institutional investors’ increasing activity in crypto. Companies, financial advisers and institutions that mocked Bitcoin five years ago, or during the Silk Road saga, are now at the forefront of crypto investments. Notable big guns in finance such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs have reneged on their previous stances and are now willing to make a bet on the future of digital currencies. With a market capitalization of over $600 billion, Bitcoin is quickly rising ahead of gold as a popular choice of hedge over inflation.

Remember, Bitcoin was not just another asset proposed as a hedge against inflation in Satoshi’s original Bitcoins white paper. However, Bitcoin’s whole idea stemmed from the failed financial institutions and third parties and a possible solution that would be effective in everyday life.

Of course, with every institutional investor and the big guns of finance swinging into Bitcoin investment, Bitcoin’s popularization as an asset has become inevitable. However, here are some of the ideal, real-world applications that could challenge failing fiat currencies and propel Bitcoin into the mainstream.

Online purchases

In the past, Bitcoin was mostly perceived as a means to bypass the government and engage in illegal activities. However, crypto adoption has continued to soar tremendously, and many more companies are now open to accepting Bitcoin or some other cryptocurrencies as payment for goods or services.

In 2014, using BitPay as its payment processor, Microsoft became one of the first tech companies to accept Bitcoin to purchase digital goods. In October 2020, the popular American payments company PayPal announced that it would enable cryptocurrency as a funding source for purchases in 2021. With different fiat payment merchants now recognizing Bitcoin, there’s an increasing likelihood that Bitcoin will be used by everyone soon enough in every corner of the world.

Cross-border transactions and travel

If there’s any lesson learned from last year and throughout the ravaging global pandemic, it is the ever-increasing need for digitization. While there are several ways to send and receive money globally, cryptocurrencies are quickly becoming a preferred option. Besides the fact that cryptocurrency is a global currency, factors including speed, convenience and lower transaction fees are pushing Bitcoin as the popular option for cross-border transactions.

Many countries that once outlawed Bitcoin are now open to it, and the mainstream media has been more than receptive in the past couple of months. Some companies already provide travel packages that allow tourists and travelers to book flights, hotels and transportation using cryptocurrency. With time, the foreign exchange market’s many disadvantages may popularize traveling with crypto ahead of local or fiat currencies.

Bitcoin ATMs

In all fairness, the goal has never been to phase out local currencies but to create a world where Bitcoin is as relevant as any fiat currency. Bitcoin ATMs are, without a doubt, a huge part of this goal. They essentially allow anyone to purchase Bitcoin with a credit card; with some Bitcoin ATMs, you can also sell Bitcoin for cash.

The number of Bitcoin ATMs worldwide is more than 13,000 in 71 countries. While there’s a long way to go with these ATMs, there has been an increasing trend every year with an average of one ATM now being added every hour. Without a doubt, Bitcoin ATMs are a big part of the crypto revolution, and they’re only going to get better in operation.

Conclusion

While cryptocurrencies are quickly becoming part of our digitized world, the underlying blockchain technology has also played a crucial role in revolutionizing many industries. Supply chains, healthcare, and the food and auto industries have benefitted immensely from this revolution over the past 10 years.

[Investors3]

Bill Miller to Allow Opportunity Fund to Buy Into Bitcoin Trust
By Joanna Ossinger
February 8, 2021, 2:31 AM EST

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-08/bill-miller-to-allow-opportunity-fund-to-buy-into-bitcoin-trust

Famed fund manager Bill Miller extended his endorsement of Bitcoin by reserving the right for one of his portfolios to indirectly invest in the largest cryptocurrency.

The Miller Opportunity Trust may invest in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, a vehicle institutions use for Bitcoin exposure, a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows. Miller’s fund would be prohibited from additional investing in the Grayscale trust if its aggregate Bitcoin exposure tops 15%.

Miller was one of Bitcoin’s earliest proponents among major investors. He said in 2014 he owned the cryptocurrency personally, and in October 2017 told The Wall Street Journal that his MVP 1 fund had about 30% of its assets in Bitcoin.

The Friday filing pointed out that currently “there is relatively small use of Bitcoin in the retail and commercial marketplace in comparison to the relatively large use of Bitcoin by speculators,” leading to price volatility.

The $2.7 billion Miller Opportunity Trust has a five-year return that puts it among about the top 2% of peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It was mostly invested in equities as of Dec. 31.

Bitcoin has pulled back since reaching a record of nearly $42,000 in early January. It’s almost quadrupled over the past year and was trading at about $39,100 as of 7:26 a.m. in London.

[Investors3]

TIME Joins Tesla in Keeping Bitcoin on Its Balance Sheet
Grayscale Investments and TIME magazine are partnering on cryptocurrency content. And TIME is keeping the BTC.
By Jeff Benson
1 min read
Apr 12, 2021

It was only a matter of TIME.

One of the most recognizable publications in the world, TIME Magazine will now be receiving some payments in Bitcoin, according to Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein. What’s more, unlike some people, it won’t be immediately converting that crypto to fiat.

“Thrilled @Grayscale is partnering w/ @TIME on a new video series coming this summer explaining the #crypto space,” Sonnenshein tweeted today. “Equally as important, @KeithGrossman & @TIME has agreed to be paid in #Bitcoin - and will hold the $BTC on their balance sheet. A first for our media partnerships!”

TIME President Grossman retweeted the news, blessing the partnership over Twitter.

Grayscale is a cryptocurrency asset manager that holds over 3% of the Bitcoin in circulation via its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. No further details were available regarding its TIME partnership.

TIME won’t be the first non-crypto company to keep Bitcoin on its balance sheet. Cloud software company MicroStrategy and payment processing firm Square pioneered that approach. When electric automaker Tesla bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin earlier this year, it announced in SEC filings that it may keep any Bitcoin it receives for car purchases. It has since confirmed that strategy.

https://decrypt.co/66263/time-joins-tesla-keeping-bitcoin-balance-sheet?&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=feed&utm_source=coinbase