French Asset Management Firm Launches Europe’s First Bitcoin Mutual Fund

[Don Pedro Dinero]

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/french-asset-management-firm-launches-europes-first-bitcoin-mutual-fund/

This French firm launched a fund before CME's one. This follows the move by the Swiss Vontobel to launch a mini futures product which allows to make short bets on bitcoin:

http://www.bolsamania.com/noticias/economia/suiza-se-adelanta-al-cme-y-lanza-dos-contratos-de-futuros-mini-sobre-el-bitcoin--2980484.html
(In Spanish)

I think we are going to have quite a bit of movement in the market. Short bets and institutional investors are definitely going to have an influence and I also think they will spread bitcoin’s popularity, as we are going to see more news related to these products and the market often, especially in financial media.

[dothebeats]

Surprisingly, financial institutions are followed by most people today and would believe anything they say when it comes to investments and whatnot, so this move would, again set an example for most people that it's finally safe to invest/use bitcoins since the wealth is already being divided from the geeks, the normal people and institutional investors. If the said futures work great, soon different firms all over the world would do the same which may cause a big boom yet again in bitcoin.

[alyssa85]

Mutual funds tend to be buy and hold organisations/funds, don't they? I don't think they do any shorting (that's just hedge funds).

So this is a very positive development, should mean some consistent buying pressure.

[Lancusters]

Surprisingly, financial institutions are followed by most people today and would believe anything they say when it comes to investments and whatnot, so this move would, again set an example for most people that it's finally safe to invest/use bitcoins since the wealth is already being divided from the geeks, the normal people and institutional investors. If the said futures work great, soon different firms all over the world would do the same which may cause a big boom yet again in bitcoin.

I still think bitcoin is not a reliable asset. It is divorced from the economy. When the miners provide transaction they earn bitcoins. This is an example of how the economy is. All users use the Fiat. This means that they support the state economy. Until bitcoin will not give the opportunity to earn coins it will be a risky asset.

[tomahawk9]

This is huge news, it's going to attract an influx of new money from investors in Europe which will have an effect in the BTC price in the short-term (obviously, a surge in the price). And I wouldn't be surprised to see a snowball effect in Europe (and the rest of the world) so that more financial institutions start providing more Bitcoin-related operations. This could also help attract people's attention about Bitcoin meaning more awareness and acceptance from the public.