Why this Wall Street fund quietly signaled its intention to invest in Bitcoin
Bitcoin is up 60 percent in the past month alone. This performance makes it the best-performing macro asset, hands down.
It’s no surprise that considering this performance, investors want in. While retail interest in the cryptocurrency market has yet to pick up as BTC is not yet past its $20,000 all-time high, Wall Street investors are increasingly signaling their support for Bitcoin.
Just recently, a multi-billion-dollar fund on Wall Street revealed that it may invest in cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin, moving forward.
Former White House official and Wall Street investor bullish on Bitcoin
If you’ve heard the name Anthony Scaramucci in recent years, you likely know him as the Trump White House official that turned his back on the administration just days after he was appointed to Communications Director. But, besides that controversy, he’s a prominent investor and entrepreneur.
He began his career at Goldman Sachs, making his way up to the bank’s Private Wealth Management division as a vice president.
After leaving the company, Scaramucci launched Skybridge Capital, an alternative investment fund that has garnered billions in investments.
Tech analyst Kevin Rooke recently revealed that on Friday, Skybridge filed an amendment to its investment mandate that allows “their $3.6 billion fund to start investing in Bitcoin.”
On Friday, Skybridge Capital filed an amendment with the SEC, allowing their $3.6 billion fund to start investing in Bitcoin.
Keep an eye on @Scaramucci ? pic.twitter.com/l6fmLosSWk
— Kevin Rooke (@kerooke) November 16, 2020
The amendment says that the fund may hold “long and short positions in digital assets.” The digital assets will be acquired potentially through exchanges “that are unregulated and often located outside of the U.S.,” the mandate added.
Only Bitcoin was mentioned in the amendment, though the firm clarified that it will be investing in other cryptocurrencies if it sees a good opportunity.
This isn’t entirely a surprise. Scaramucci has been an increasingly loud Bitcoin bull over recent months.
He appeared on a number of cryptocurrency-themed podcasts recently, including the podcast hosted by Anthony Pompliano, an ex-Facebook staffer turned cryptocurrency investor.
In that podcast, Scaramucci said that he thinks Bitcoin is becoming increasingly viable due to the simple fact that young people like the cryptocurrency while the U.S. dollar and traditional financial structures are being debased.
Now’s a better time than ever
This move comes as the backdrop to adopt Bitcoin has improved dramatically, especially for Wall Street investors.
Jesse Proudman, the CEO of Strix Leviathan, a crypto hedge fund, remarked on the Skybridge filing:
“In this challenging global macro landscape, Bitcoin has grown as a compelling investment for institutional investment managers. It’s momentum through the back half of 2020, largely ignored by the mainstream media and in retail circles, has been identified by firms willing to take on the risk of an asset class that has outperformed all others this year. Skybridge’s indicative interest is the latest in a drumbeat of similar news and demonstrates that the early movers will reap the largest benefit from this trend.”
As reported by CryptoSlate previously, Mechanism Capital founder Andrew Kang recently stated that he thinks Bitcoin looks like a better investment than ever before for institutional players for the following reasons:
- There is “looming” inflation, which should drive down the value of the U.S. dollar.
- Yields are low, meaning the opportunity cost of owning Bitcoin goes down.
- Other markets such as the stock market and real estate have extremely high valuations.
- Bitcoin has been validated by investors like Stanley Druckenmiller and Paul Tudor Jones.
- Companies are launching “established” custody solutions that should allow notable investors and even retail investors to store their coins at low cost and with little risk of hacking.
Bitcoin Market Data
At the time of press 1:02 pm UTC on Nov. 17, 2020, Bitcoin is ranked #1 by market cap and the price is up 4.7% over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin has a market capitalization of $316.09 billion with a 24-hour trading volume of $35.72 billion. Learn more about Bitcoin ›
Crypto Market Summary
At the time of press 1:02 pm UTC on Nov. 17, 2020, the total crypto market is valued at at $484.31 billion with a 24-hour volume of $424.52 billion. Bitcoin dominance is currently at 65.19%. Learn more about the crypto market ›