What Happened? FTX is an innovative digital asset exchange based in Hong Kong that creates perpetual futures contracts, options or other financial derivatives on anything that is interesting to their client base, including the recently concluded U.S. Presidential election.  However, while FTX is known for allowing traders to go long or short many of the more well-known digital currencies, it has recently branched into offering tokens representing fractionalized shares in U.S. stocks. Why Does This…

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Bitcoin rose about $1,000 overnight today (Aug. 5th) and could very well be undergoing the type of transformation that will secure its place in the new global economy – truly being used as a store of value in a significant part of the world. One of the core tenets of cryptocurrency, and bitcoin in particular, is that it is a borderless, decentralized method of exchange that is free from government control. During its earlier stages,…

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I don’t know how to say it any other way – this is one of the best examples of how more traditional firms in finance treat crypto at the moment, even at the risk of losing the forest for trees. It’s from Anthony Pompliano’s “Off the Chain” newsletter and details a private client of a large bank being considered a “suspicious customer” simply because of their crypto holdings. Instead of losing a $50MM account quicker…

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One of the things that worries me in a profound manner are the potential, far-reaching possibilities (i.e. unintended consequences) of the world’s digital transformation that could lead to something eventually looking like Panem in the movie, “The Hunger Games”. While I believe that digital assets will first allow another “golden age” of increased productivity, scale and efficiency on a global basis, it will likely also increase the divide of the “haves” and the “have-nots” to…

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This concept is so simple that someone on Jeff Bezos’ staff must have brought this to his attention already… While Facebook’s Libra came on to the digital scene much quicker than anyone expected, the most obvious, tech-savvy candidate to be next (and do it more advantageously for themselves) is Amazon. And why not? They have the perfect, existing ecosystem waiting to be utilized. Amazon already functions like a casino: they give you the online retailer’s…

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A fairly recent crypto news article caught my attention – it was about the car company, Jaguar Land Rover, and the ability of drivers of its vehicles to earn Iota, a digital currency. At first, it was simply interesting because it involved crypto and was another data point of a digital currency becoming more mainstream. But then, after analyzing it a bit more, the more serious implication hit me: what if this was a small,…

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Ikigai (which means “a reason for being” in Japanese) is one of the more recognized digital asset managers in crypto, due in part to Travis Kling’s notable prior investment experience as a portfolio manager at Steve Cohen’s hedge fund, Point72. As Ikigai’s Chief Investment Officer, Travis is known for being forthright and speaking his mind, which is considered by many in the crypto space to be refreshing. However, there is also a lot to Ikigai…

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The answer is that it’s a little bit of both – some institutions are already involved, some are investing through VC funds, a lot are interested and starting to pay close attention, BUT the lion’s share of traditional, institutional asset managers (mutual funds, hedge funds, pensions, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, private wealth advisors, etc.) are still on the sideline. So, who are the institutions that are already involved, particularly those that either invest or transact…

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