Bitcoin
State is ‘underinvested’ in Bitcoin EFTs despite recent purchase, says UW-Whitewater professor
The Wisconsin pension fund bought $164 million worth of Bitcoin shares earlier this year in two bitcoin exchange-traded funds, also known as ETFs. The investment was made after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the creation of Bitcoin ETFs in January.
The fact that these purchases are in exchange-traded funds is important, according to Paul Nylen, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and director of the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Institute at UW-Whitewater.
“This has allowed pension funds and other investment boards to allow someone else to actually custody Bitcoin and have that fund — like Blackrock or Fidelity — issue shares,” Nylen told WPR’s “Wisconsin today,” so the investment board could purchase shares of a fraction of Bitcoin, rather than actually holding its own keys to Bitcoin itself.”
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Cryptocurrency comes with well-publicized baggage. The global electricity usage associated with Bitcoin each year is on par with the country of Australia, according to the US Energy Information Administration. The Department of Homeland Security linked cryptocurrency more broadly for money laundering, cybercrime and consumer fraud.
Bitcoin stocks can also be extremely volatile, with the price of one Bitcoin falling from nearly $66,000 in 2021 to around $16,000 in 2022. Since then, Bitcoin has reached a new high of around $71,000 this year . But Nylen says volatility is good for long-term growth.
He spoke with WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” to break down what this purchase means for Wisconsin.
The following has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Kate Archer Kent: The Wisconsin Investment Board purchased shares of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. So how does the state’s purchase of ETF shares differ from the direct purchase of Bitcoin?
Paulo Nylen: In Bitcoin, there is this phrase you will sometimes hear: “Not your keys, not your coins.” And unfortunately, I think for much of Bitcoin’s history, there have been very bad custodians.
So if you think about (Bitcoin exchanges) FTX and Mount Gox, and all these kinds of famous news stories – and these were companies located in the Cayman Islands, or somewhere like that, that eventually lost their Bitcoin keys or did something fraudulent on your customer’s behalf. What we have now are branded institutions, right? So Fidelidade, Bitwise, BlackRock. And they are the ones who really hold the keys to Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is a bearish asset, so whoever holds the private keys has the ability to move that Bitcoin. So the state of Wisconsin is relying on a third party here, but the investment boards have to do this. They can’t bring all their gold to their offices and they can’t physically hold their Apple shares. They need a third party. So, there is a difference there.
I don’t see how a big state like Wisconsin or all of its pension funds could actually custodian their own Bitcoin. They would let BlackRock or Fidelity do it. And so I think, given that circumstance, it’s a great solution for Wisconsin.
KAK: The US House passed legislation creating a new framework for how federal agencies would regulate cryptocurrencies. We heard the CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation call this vote a “defining moment.” Would this new regulatory approach be good for Wisconsin?
PN: The best way to think about this is to ask, “What is the current regulatory approach?” And the current approach is a mess. There have been ongoing lawsuits with the Securities and Exchange Commission for over a decade. All this really does is help clarify which administrative bodies are responsible for cryptocurrencies. And so I think any clarity on this point is probably good clarity.
KAK: Should the Wisconsin Investment Board hold these new assets? When would they sell their Bitcoin shares?
PN: In fact, I’ll take it a step further. I think Wisconsin is a little underinvested. Wisconsin put less than 1% of the fund there. I think the 1% to 3% allocation is probably the direction a lot of this advice is going. I realize that (the Wisconsin Investment Board) wants to take the plunge. But Bitcoin is a long-lived asset. So in my opinion, it’s the last thing you sell.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents and Wisconsin Educational Communications Council.
Bitcoin
‘This is huge’ — Billionaire Mark Cuban issues ‘incredible’ Bitcoin and crypto prediction amid price slump
Bitcoin has surged again this year under former President Donald Trump Cryptocurrency boosts US presidential election in November with ‘revolutionary’ plan.
The price of bitcoin has surged to more than its all-time high in recent months, surpassing $70,000 per bitcoin and triggering a wave of mega-optimistic predictions about the price of bitcoinalthough it fell again this week to below $65,000 after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady.
Now, as Elon Musk suddenly breaks his silence on bitcoin and cryptocurrenciesBillionaire investor Mark Cuban called a California plan to digitize 42 million car titles using blockchain an “incredible step forward” and “huge” for cryptocurrencies.
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Mark Cuban, famous Shark Tank investor and billionaire owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, has… [+] called a cryptocurrency update “amazing” amid bitcoin’s price slump.
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The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has digitized 42 million car titles using blockchain, it was reported by Reuters, through technology company Oxhead Alpha on the Avalanche blockchain and designed to detect fraud and facilitate the securities transfer process.
“This is an incredible development for crypto,” Cuban, best known as an investor on TV’s Shark Tank and owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, posted on X, joking that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler could sue the state as part of his hostility toward cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
“The reason this is huge for crypto is because people who hold the tokens will have an app with an Avalanche wallet,” Cuban said. “Tens of millions of Californians having and using a crypto wallet in the next five years, or however long it takes, normalizes the use of wallets and crypto.”
John Wu, president of Avalanche developer Ava Labs, told Reuters that California’s DMV is “creating a wallet that you can download on your phone.”
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Bitcoin’s price has rallied this year, triggering a wave of bullish bitcoin price predictions from… [+] people like billionaire Mark Cuban.
Forbes Digital Assets
Last month, Cuban predicted that if the US dollar falls as the global reserve currency, bitcoin could become “a global ‘safe haven’” and a “global currency.” potentially sending the price of bitcoin to a much higher level.
According to Cuban, bitcoin could become what its most ardent supporters “envision” — a means “of protecting our economies… This is already happening in countries facing hyperinflation.”
The price of bitcoin has skyrocketed over the past year, largely due to the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, leading a bitcoin attack on Wall Street.
Bitcoin
Large Bitcoin (BTC) Holders Added $5.4 Billion Worth of BTC in July, Data Shows
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Bitcoin
Peter Schiff criticizes Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin hype by U.Today
U.Today – Renowned economist and cryptocurrency critic Peter Schiff has criticized Michael Saylor’s recent hype about the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies as a strategic treasury asset by corporations.
Michael Saylor, a well-known Bitcoin advocate and president of MicroStrategy, recently shared his enthusiasm on X about the growing adoption of Bitcoin as a strategic treasury asset.
Citing a comment made by Bitcoin investor Bill Miller in a recent interview with CNBC, Saylor tweeted: “We now have more companies coming forward and saying we will put Bitcoin on our balance sheet as a strategic treasury asset.”
However, not everyone shares Saylor’s enthusiasm. Schiff, a vocal Bitcoin critic and gold bull, was quick to respond with his usual skepticism. In a pointed tweet, Schiff argued: “Bitcoin is neither strategic nor appropriate as a treasury asset. Companies should not risk shareholder funds. They should pay dividends and let shareholders risk their own money.”
Bitcoin enthusiasts are not intimidated
However, Schiff’s criticism shouldn’t deter Bitcoin enthusiasts, who often take Schiff’s words with a pinch of salt. To put things in context, Michael Saylor began buying Bitcoin in 2020 as an inflation hedge and alternative to money. Saylor’s company, MicroStrategy, is among the largest public holders of Bitcoin in the world. As of June 20, it held 226,331 BTC, purchased for around $8.33 billion at an average price of $36,798.
Over the weekend, Schiff was surprised when 87% of the more than 11,000 Bitcoin holders who responded to his X survey said they would not sell any of their Bitcoin even if the price dropped more than 99% to $120. They said not only would they not sell, but that they would continue to buy even when prices dropped.
Schiff unexpectedly revealed that “the main selling point for investors to buy Bitcoin is its excellent past performance record.”
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $66,067, having reached all-time highs of nearly $74,000 in mid-March.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin Falls as ETF Flows Reverse, Mt. Gox Moves Billions
In a week of drastic fluctuations, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has retreated from its highs and is currently trading at US$66,250, down 0.9% in European trading.
This volatility comes on the heels of a significant surge above $70,000 earlier in the week, fueled by former President Donald Trump’s ambitious cryptocurrency plans announced in a Bitcoin Conference in Nashville.
Trump’s announcement to fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler and establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve if elected president has temporarily sent the cryptocurrency market into a frenzy.
However, the excitement was short-lived as a series of events unfolded which caused investor sentiment to sour.
A significant sell-off of about 8% was triggered when the US Marshals Service moved $2 billion in Bitcoin for new wallets.
This move has reignited fears of a potential large-scale liquidation, compounded by lingering concerns over a possible Bitcoin liquidation from Mt. Gox. Early this morning, Mt. Gox administrator transferred US$2.2 billion value of your BTC assets in a new wallet.
Meanwhile, the US Bitcoin ETF spot market is showing signs of fluctuation, according to data from SoSo Value. On July 30, Bitcoin spot funds experienced their first net outflow in five days, totaling $18.3 million.
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) saw outflows of $73.6 million, while the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) attracted $74.9 million in inflows. But outflows from other funds left the category in the red at the end of Tuesday’s trading session. The total net asset value of spot Bitcoin ETFs currently stands at a substantial $58.5 billion.
In other crypto news, Ripple (XRP) is up 8.6% in the past 24 hours, hitting over 64 cents – its highest point since March 25, according to CoinGecko. data.
This rally comes amid a scheduled token unlock and growing optimism around a potential deal in the long-running SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit.
The crypto community is closely watching the SEC’s actions, particularly its intention to amend its complaint against Binance regarding “Third-Party Cryptocurrency Securities,” which some interpret as a positive sign for Ripple.
On a market analysis noteSingapore-based cryptocurrency trading desk QCP Capital wrote that while election headlines continue to dominate, several crucial macroeconomic events loom on the horizon.
“Election headlines will continue to be a key focus, but several key macroeconomic events are also on the horizon. Key events starting with the FOMC meeting on Wednesday, megacap tech earnings (Apple, Amazon, Meta) throughout the week, and unemployment data on Friday,” QCP Capital wrote.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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