#cryptoequityresearch

Index funds have more than proven their worth as a preferred option for those with an eye on retirement. But now there is conversation about the value of adding bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to this investment mix.

Given crypto’s volatile nature to date, risk tolerance is obviously a factor to consider for any financial portfolio. Juxtapose that with those investors who are in position to risk a potential loss, and Bitcoin’s value proposition as a key of any retirement portfolio looks a more bit promising.

Much of this talk comes as individual retirement accounts (IRAs), which allow participants to tuck away funds for retirement in a tax-advantage vehicle, are garnering increased attention.

With increasing numbers of sophisticated IRA investors seeking to diversify their retirement account holdings into nontraditional assets, it should be no surprise that cryptocurrencies are now part of the conversation.

Despite the persistent bearish environment and unfavorable regulatory conditions in various parts of the world, the number of new crypto funds unveiled this year is expected to break last year’s record.

So far the number of new crypto funds that have already been launched is 96 and it is projected that by the end of the year the total number will reach a figure of 165, against last year’s 156. In 2016 the figure was 42. Combined there are now 466 crypto funds spread across the globe according to Rohnert Park, California-based Crypto Fund Research.

While 55% of the crypto funds launched so far are hedge funds, 42% are crypto venture capital funds and 3% are private equity funds which have come on stream with the maturation of some blockchain firms.

As cryptocurrencies become more popular, institutions need a safe way to store their crypto funds. According to a new report, big banks are starting to take notice and have begun developing their own crypto custody services.

“JPMorgan Chase, Northern Trust, Goldman Sachs and several other banks are developing new products to hold cryptocurrencies in custody,” wrote American Banker earlier this week.

American Banker didn’t scoop the story: it’s been public knowledge for some time. The companies and various media reports have confirmed that major Wall Street institutions have already begun to develop crypto custody services.

The digital asset exchange platform (DAxP) of BlockEx is mainly intended for institutional clients. It includes a digital asset creation tool, exchange, clearing, settlement, registry and brokerage software. It supports trading of ICO tokens, cryptocurrencies, and other digital assets, such as debt, equity, insurance products that can be traded for fiat currencies.

The DAxP offers advanced order types like Limit Order, Stop Loss and Stop Entry. Iceberg orders will also be added. There is the option to execute large block orders through the over-the-counter (OTC) platform.

“The digital token age is upon us and BlockEx has shown they are the institutional-grade exchange provider that bridges the traditional and new capital worlds,”said Rishan Bhagowat, director of Sublime Group. “This shared vision makes BlockExMarkets.com an ideal market for us to support. We’re more than excited to partner with BlockEx and contribute to the realization of the next generation of capital markets.”

Blockloan has an important objective to solve access to credit globally by bridging the gap between cash and crypto, anytime anywhere. This initiative will revolutionize the future of global banking. Blockloan targets the following areas:

Personal crypto and FIAT loans

Crypto equity margin lending and collateralized crypto loans

Wallet and FIAT conversions

Debit card to access crypto funds

Blockloan Mission and Vision

Blockloan’s vision is to create a world with easy access to credit anywhere and anytime. In line with their mission, Blockloan delves at creating greater global accessibility, efficiency, and removing unwanted transactional costs by removing the role of the middleman.

Financial experts consider custody to be the biggest obstacle. Lack of proper custody discourages the participation of financial institutions, hindering the flow of big money into the crypto market. In this regard, Robert Dykes writes:

Global institutional investors have $130 trillion of assets under management. A tiny slice of that moving into crypto will have a huge positive impact on an industry whose market cap remains under $300 billion.

But, according to Dykes, to attract this kind of money into the market, “the crypto industry needs to provide the facilities and tools these big-money players are used to.”

For months, the cryptocurrency market has waited for the expected entry of institutional finance, an event which is expected to herald its coming-of-age as a bona fide investment asset class with a long-term future. By and large, a torrent of banks and funds pouring money into crypto assets has not materialized, driven in part by fears of regulatory uncertainty, and the erratic and unconventional behavior of the asset.

This series of quiet but deliberate moves by Northern Trust, however, could signify the beginning of a significant investment influx to crypto markets. In an interview with Forbes, Pete Cherecwich, president of corporate and institutional services at Northern Trust confirmed that a shift is indeed taking place, and he highlighted the reason why.

“You can take anything today. You can take movie rights, you can take all sorts of entities, and you can create a token for those. We have to be able to figure out how to hold those tokens, value those tokens, do those things,” he said.

While Northern Trust didn’t reveal the identity of the hedge funds it's working with, in this new area of engagement, Cherecwich dropped a tantalizing hint, by mentioning that the project is with three “mainstream hedge funds” who are adopting a significant investment position in digital assets. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/financial-services-firm-opens-doors-crypto-hedge-funds/