[2018-07-23] Coinbase Prime Snags a $20 Billion Institutional Investor

[bbc.reporter]

I reckon we should start speculating on the same cryptocoins listed in Coinbase because billions in fresh capital will be quietly going into them. Also, be careful because those institutional investors will dump them to the new bagholders during the next bull market hehehe.




Coinbase Prime, a crypto trading service targeted at institutional investors, has reportedly found a $20 billion client, according to Business Insider:

“Already, the firm has onboarded a $20 billion hedge fund through its prime business, [people familiar with the matter] said, declining to specify which fund.”
This latest news comes as institutional investments into crypto are becoming increasingly commonplace. Just yesterday, Peter Smith, the CEO of Blockchain Ltd, noted that although individual investment is falling, institutional investors have been attracted to crypto investing due to clearer regulations.

Despite all this publicity around institutional investment, it’s not yet known who the big investor is. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Polychain Capital put assets into Coinbase Custody, making it one of the few institutional investors known to be a Coinbase customer. But Polychain only has a little over $1 billion in assets—needless to say, this hedge fund’s investment is likely much larger by comparison.

Read in full https://unhashed.com/cryptocurrency-news/coinbase-prime-snags-20-billion-institutional-investor/

[1Referee]

Of course it's not yet known who that 'mysterious' institutional investor is. If you openly admit to buy crypto as large party, it will work against you.

We'll only find out what institution it concerns once it has accumulated enough coins.  

I think the main reason Coinbase released this information is because they want to show the outside world how well they are doing. It's great for crypto obviously to see them put so much effort in attracting institutional capital, but that doesn't mean their retail platforms are doing well. Coinbase is losing the retail battle and I don't see them recover from this unless they go full nuts on shitcoins, but that won't happen with how they try to remain their status as classy entity in the crypto world. In order to make big money, you have to throw away your values and become as trashy as Binance.

[gentlemand]

Better to name the hedge fund by the amount they actually put into crypt at this time. So it's probably a $50,000 hedge fund but that looks a lot less impressive to everyone.

I wonder what plans Coinbase has in place about insider trading considering how fucked up their Bcash launch was. They're moving into the big leagues now and previous kludges won't cut it. There's more than a slight warping there that the announcements of their own listings can massively pump things.

[Kakmakr]

Let's just hope they upgraded their systems to handle the load this time. Last year when we reached the peak, most of the exchanges could not handle the transaction volumes and they were closed for business, due to technical problems.  Can you imagine what will happen if institutional investors enter the scene and the same thing happens again?

We need a lot of these $20 Billion investors to reach the ATH of last year. 

[BitHodler]

Institutions are playing safe game mostly, so I'll assume that the $20 billion hedge fund allocates way less than 1% of its assets to be invested in crypto. No way they will blindly dump money in crypto.

Hedge funds mostly fill up a very small percentage of their portfolio with speculative assets, and crypto fits in that category as well, even though it's far more speculative than anything else in the regular market.

I wonder what plans Coinbase has in place about insider trading considering how fucked up their Bcash launch was.

Coinbase won't do anything other than up front stating what coins they are looking to research and list. I'm sure the employee responsible for the leak will not bother doing the same ever again. It was far too obvious.

[squatter]

I wonder what plans Coinbase has in place about insider trading considering how fucked up their Bcash launch was. They're moving into the big leagues now and previous kludges won't cut it. There's more than a slight warping there that the announcements of their own listings can massively pump things.

It's definitely a concern for securities listings, but can probably be written off for obvious non-securities like Bcash or any other POW coin. Insider trading laws (at least in the US) generally only apply to publicly traded stocks and similar securities. For commodities, the law is mostly limited to things like front running.

I suppose the "we might list these assets" announcements are intended for transparency in that respect? I think they've probably tried to choose assets which are arguably not securities, although I'm not sure about BAT and XLM.

[TallDragonfly]

Bitcoin is where cash!

[veleten]

this should be a start of the bull run,too many "accidental" positive news
Coinbase getting an investor could be huge in the long run
it is working as a signal to other investors and hedge funds to consider entering the market
and once several of them get in,the consequences are obvious-major price rise

[Carlton Banks]

Anyone considered the possibility that Coinbase are lying, and that there is no mystery hedge fund? This is Coinbase after all, and they have many reasons to lie.

[chaoscoinz]

News like this just might be groundbreaking, creating the kind of sparks that start wildfires! The fact that institutional investors have taken privy to the Bitcoin ecosystem and all that blockchain has to offer.
If some bigwigs are putting their faith in Coinbase, then it surely must mean good news! With all of the regulations rolling out, the path begins to shape, as investors start to blaze a trail. Exciting times for crypto this year, from the crash to the push for mandatory regulations and governmental guidance, every moment is interesting.