Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, and home to the broadest range o

ICE Expands Global Energy Portfolio With the Launch of TTF Natural Gas Calendar Spread Options

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. ICE is slated to report third-quarter 2023 earnings on Nov 2, before market open. ICE delivered an earnings surprise in three of the last four quarters and missed in one,

What's in Store for Intercontinental (ICE) in Q3 Earnings?

The New York Stock Exchange, part of Intercontinental Exchange, a provider of data, tech, and market infrastructure, announced NYSE LaunchPad.

New York Stock Exchange Announces NYSE LaunchPad to Assist Startups

Intercontinental Exchange Inc’s recent filing unveils that its Chief Executive Officer Sprecher Jeffrey C unloaded Company’s shares for reported $10.0 million on Sep 21. In the deal valued at $112.82 per share,88,683 shares were sold. As a result of ...

Intercontinental Exchange Inc [ICE] Insider Activity: An Update for Investors

The Financial Services Federation (FSF) has announced its new executive committee, including Turners Automotive Group CEO Todd Hunter as chair. Following a members’ election, successful candidates were announced at the FSF’s annual meeting last week ...

Financial Services Federation announces committee, chair

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of ... benchmark construction, designing new financial products such as ETFs or enabling services such as direct indexing. The new suite of European equity indices represents the first stage of ...

ICE Introduces Suite of Broad European Equity Indices

Intercontinental Exchange ICE ... designing new financial products such as ETFs or enabling services such as direct indexing. The new suite of European equity indices represents the first stage ...

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE ... president of Fixed Income and Data Services at ICE.

Intercontinental Exchange launches suite of European equity indices

The Australian federal government is charging forward with plans to regulate the digital asset sector at the exchange level ... exchanges to hold a financial services license issued by the local ...

Australian Treasury proposes to regulate crypto exchanges, not tokens

Get the most recent info and news about Intercontinental Exchange on HackerNoon, where 10k+ technologists publish stories for 4M+ monthly readers.

NGX Canada Inc. is a Canadian exchange that trades and clears natural gas and electricity contracts.  The Exchange enables energy traders to trade and clear natural gas spot, forward and swap contracts, and electricity swap contracts.

Intercontinental Exchange

Global markets have experienced mixed reactions over the past week, likely fueled by the uncertainty surrounding the resolution of the US government's  $31.4 trillion debt ceiling dilemma. As we highlighted in our week's newsletter, the US Treasury is confronting the imminent threat of a debt crisis, which could result in an inability to fulfill its financial obligations as early as June. previous Fortunately, it appears the legislators are now to reach a consensus. inclined While this news, coupled with a decelerating rate of inflation, has instilled some optimism in the market, certain analysts that the possibility of a mild recession still looms. caution Whole Bitcoiners Eclipse 1 Million At this stage, the market sentiment is starting to feel indifferent, and all the communities I am participating in, where I discuss with other traders, currently have drastically low activity. What this is a sign of, I will let you be the judge of, but to me, it feels like the quiet before a volatile move. The HODL Army Increases Despite the low activity in the market, recent data from reveals that the number of Bitcoin addresses holding 1 BTC or more has now surpassed 1 million, a significant milestone for this pioneer crypto asset. Glassnode The spike in number of “wholecoiners” is occurring at a time when the crypto market has plummeted by over 65% from its all-time high. A great indicator that there is still long-term conviction to be found in the markets even if there is blood in the streets. Noteworthy Mentions Real-world assets (RWAs): The Holy Grail of DeFi We recently published an extensive piece delving into this emerging crypto asset class and its potential to bridge traditional assets with on-chain economies. RWAs offer a unique and compelling value proposition through asset tokenization. For more insights, here is the link to the full . article Industry Shakers Tether to invest up to 15% of its profits in Bitcoin Tether, the stablecoin issuer, has announced a new investment strategy focused on Bitcoin (BTC). Starting this month, Tether will regularly purchase BTC using a portion of its profits, allocating up to 15% of realized investment profits. This move follows Tether's recent disclosure of holding $1.5 billion worth of BTC and $3.4 billion of gold among its reserve assets, backing its flagship stablecoin USDT and other stablecoins. Bakkt delists popular DeFi tokens Bakkt, the digital asset firm owned by Intercontinental Exchange, has recently removed 25 out of the 36 crypto tokens that were originally listed on its recently acquired trading platform, Apex Crypto. According to a spokesperson for Bakkt, the decision was made as part of their routine coin listing review process. Notably, the majority of the delisted tokens are associated with prominent decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) ecosystems, including AAVE, Uniswap (UNI), Compound (COMP), and LINK. Apple allows Axie Infinity on the App Store Sky Mavis, the creator of the widely acclaimed blockchain-based video game Axie Infinity, has recently made an exciting announcement. The game is now officially accessible for download on the Apple App Store. Users in various countries, such as Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia, will be able to enjoy this captivating gaming experience on their Apple devices. Also published here

The U.S. Debt Ceiling Dilemma: How It's Affecting the Markets

If you were a CEO of a large financial institution three years ago, publicly stating support for Bitcoin would be suicidal. The reason? The media-driven narrative was that Bitcoin is only useful for criminals and drug dealers. You have to understand, most of the people didn’t even understand Bitcoin. They heard the same blatant lies day in and day out. And they blackout everything else. On top of all the misinformation in the media, Warren Buffett declared that Bitcoin is “rat poison squared.” His partner, Charlie Munger, said it was like “trading dead baby brains.” And Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, the largest US bank, stated that he would fire anyone who was caught trading it. Well, the narrative has changed. And many others are changing their minds too. Here is a list of other that are firmly bullish. 15 investors and institutions 1.JPMorgan Even JPMorgan conceded. According to , JPMorgan released a note last week that now states their analysts believe Bitcoin could . Fortune double or triple in price 2.Tudor BVI Fund First and one of the most notable converts is billionaire hedge fund manager . Tudor has said that Bitcoin in 2020 reminds him of gold’s role in the 1970s. His $22 billion hedge fund has invested between of its assets in Bitcoin futures contracts. Paul Tudor Jones 1 and 2 percent 3.Social Capital founder , a self-proclaimed “disciple” of Warren Buffett, says Bitcoin is the best financial hedge against an uncertain world economy. He urged people to invest at least . Social Capital Chamath Palihapitiya 1% in the asset 4.ARK is the most successful investor over the past five years. Her team at ARK recommends an allocation to Bitcoin, ranging from . Cathie Wood 2.55% to 6.55% 5.Stone Ridge Multi-billion dollar institutions are now allocating 9-figures to Bitcoin. , a $10 billion asset manager, now owns . Stone Ridge $115 million in Bitcoin 6.Microstrategy Inc. raised Bitcoin holdings to after the second purchase.  Bitcoin held by the company is serving as the primary treasury reserve asset, almost entirely replacing US dollars. Nasdaq-listed Microstrategy $425 million 7.Mode , , has recently announced that they will put in Bitcoin to protect themselves against currency debasement. Mode Global Holdings a London Stock Exchange -listed company 10% of their cash reserves 8.Grayscale The largest digital asset investment manager, , saw the third quarter and now has almost in total assets. Grayscale’s Bitcoin (BTC) is on track to reach 500,000 BTC by the end of 2020. Grayscale record inflows of $1 billion in $6 billion Trust 9.Fidelity also added its establishment name and star power to the new asset class. They successfully launched cryptocurrency custody offerings for institutional investors in 2019. In August 2020, they launched its first Bitcoin fund, and recently, they suggested investors increase their Bitcoin allocation to . Fidelity 5% or more 10.Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) , the trading colossus that owns the New York Stock Exchange and other global marketplaces, formed Bakkt. The company, backed by , aims to make cryptocurrency safe for your retirement fund, and maybe retail. Intercontinental Exchange Microsoft and Starbucks 11.Goldman Sachs has emerged that they are considering its own crypto asset, most likely a stablecoin.  The bank said that there had been an with the bank’s institutional clients when it comes to crypto, adding that Goldman “uptick in interest” “it feels like there is a resurgence of interest in cryptocurrencies.” 12.DBS BANK , the largest bank in Southeast Asia by assets, is getting ready to launch a new digital asset exchange. This is a big deal because it shows that . DBS Bank crypto has gone mainstream in Asia 13.PAYPAL has recently entered the cryptocurrency game too. The technology company will allow users to buy and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.  PayPal has more than , 25 million merchants, and is the . PayPal 345 million users 20th largest “bank” by deposits 14.SQUARE Payments platform has purchased in Bitcoin. , has long been a proponent of Bitcoin, saying in 2018 that he believes it will eventually within the next decade. Dorsey, who also owns an undisclosed amount of bitcoin personally. Square $50 million Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square become the world’s single currency 15.CENTRAL BANKS Although different entities, central banks belong on this list too. They have long exercised influence over Wall Street, and they are not oblivious to what is going on here. Whether it is the Chairman of the talking positively about Bitcoin and Ethereum, the launching a proposal for a digital euro, or it is testing a centralized digital currency in Shenzhen, .  An easy first step would be to begin putting Bitcoin in their central bank reserves. If that happens in a major country, it will set off a global game of . CFTC ECB China they are all paying attention FOMO Mahatma Gandhi’s once said: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” You have to imagine that every large bank is holding executive meetings about Bitcoin. It is also easy to imagine large family offices are already getting exposure to Bitcoin without announcing it to the world. Yes, we have come a long way since the view of drug dealers and criminals. But Bitcoin hasn’t won yet. Let’s not forget that the Bitcoin win is not as another asset on Wall Street. The financial system is broken and built a world of inequality. The goal is to and use technology to create a better, more equitable world. disrupt the status quo Then we’ll all win. In the meantime, I suspect we’ll just continue to . HODL

15 Wall Street Institutions Bullish On Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s halving is just around the corner. It is estimated to take place on May 12th, 2020, and it will slash the reward miners get from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC. Currently, the network produces 1,800 BTC every day, and this is about to be reduced to 900 BTC. Needless to say, the Bitcoin halving is for Bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency community. Historically, the price has increased substantially following the past two halvings. Of course, it’s yet to be seen if the event will catalyze any serious bullish momentum, but basic economic principles dictate that if the supply for an asset is reduced while the demand for it increases or remains the same, its price should go up. an important event Is Bitcoin Halving Already Priced In? In legacy markets, traders oftentimes use information and facts that are likely to take place in the future to get ahead of the market. For instance, when trading oil derivatives, institutions look at a variety of price-impacting conditions such as weather forecasts, production expectancies, and whatnot, to make their decisions. BTC/USD 5y chart. Source: TradingView Hence, arguments have been made that the Bitcoin halving has already been priced. There are experts, though, who oppose this stance, arguing that it’s impossible to price it in ahead of time. Before being able to determine whether or not an event like this can possibly be priced in, however, it’s important to be aware of how the cryptocurrency works, at least on a basic level — , if you will. Bitcoin for beginners One such expert, who explains why the halving can’t possibly be priced in, is the popular cryptocurrency commentator, Morgan Creek Capital’s Anthony ‘Pomp’ Pompliano. Pompliano tweeted - Regardless, a lot of traders are banking on this event as the price skyrocketed both times it took place in the past. But things were quite different back then compared to where the cryptocurrency market stands today. The Cryptocurrency Landscape Is Immensely Different The previous halving took place in 2016, and it propelled the most parabolic movement in Bitcoin’s price in the year to follow. In December 2017, Bitcoin reached its current all-time high value of around $20,000. Propelled by many traditional mainstream media outlets such as , Bloomberg, and others, Bitcoin made tons of headlines and got in front of the eyes of many retail investors who piled on. CNBC Today, however, Bitcoin is already an established product. A lot more people are aware of it and of the other cryptocurrencies. More importantly, they are aware of how quickly their price can go up and, of course, go down. The notion that the supply of freshly minted bitcoins to the market will decrease in half appears very attractive to many. And should the price start to increase notably in the months after the halving, people will have a lot more options to get in on the action compared to last time. An Abundance Of Buying Options In 2017, people had relatively limited means of purchasing Bitcoin, let alone derivatives such as futures or options. Now, however, things are different. There’s an abundance of cryptocurrency exchanges that comply with existing Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations which allow purchasing bitcoin with credit or debit cards. is one such example. The world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange has established itself as a trusted solution for those who want to enter the market. Binance Moreover, there are plenty of derivatives exchanges, Binance Futures included. But it’s far from the only one. Major players such as Huobi and OKEx also have their derivatives counterparts, and it’s not just BitMEX that users can rely on. All of this leads to one logical conclusion — if Bitcoin’s price is to begin increasing like back in 2017, retail investors will have a lot easier times getting in on the action, and it’s not out of the question for this to catapult the price even higher. But that’s not all. Institutions Also Have a Way In In 2017 there were little to no solutions for institutional investors besides over-the-counter trading and self-custody. Now, the market has players such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange offering futures contracts for institutions. There’s also Bakkt — the Bitcoin Futures trading platform owned by the owner of the New York Stock Exchange — the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). Bakkt its Institutional Custody solutions regulated and authorized by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). announced Who Stands To Win The Most? Should history repeat itself, investors in Bitcoin are likely to make a lot of money. However, they are unlikely to come out as the biggest winners. Those who stand to win the most are the companies offering various Bitcoin solutions. Exchanges, custodians, brokers, and everyone creating bitcoin-centric infrastructure is likely to come out as a huge winner if Bitcoin’s halving indeed catalyzes a huge bull run. Of course, it’s important to note that the economic environment is also particularly different from that back in 2017. The whole world is currently going through major financial challenges because of the spread of the novel coronavirus and the consequences that it brought. Economies are virtually shut down across the world as governments institute lockdowns to try and limit the spread. This triggered a sequence of events on Wall Street as the S&P 500 saw decreases charted decades ago. While many argue that this is the perfect economic setting for Bitcoin, it’s important to remain realistic. It’s still a young and risky asset that the majority of investors are uncomfortable with. Even though it opposes a lot of the flawed mechanisms of existing fiat currencies, a lot of time needs to pass if bitcoin is to even be considered as a viable alternative.

Who Will Be The Victors of The Bitcoin Halving Event?

Fresh off the German government’s decision to let banks store and sell cryptocurrency, Deutsche Bank predicted cryptocurrency will and . go mainstream by 2022 eventually replace cash A cynic might call out DB for hyping crypto now, when they finally have a chance to make money off of it, and not sooner (when they couldn’t make money off of it). Whatever. The result is the same: one of the world’s biggest banks endorsed cryptocurrency—and in a very big way. So it begins . . . Since the bitcoin crash of 2018, financial heavyweights Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Fidelity, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), TD Ameritrade, NASDAQ, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and State Street have put money into cryptocurrency-related ventures. Other may have, too. Their activities range from custody, trading desks, financial services, derivatives platforms, and investment products. Some of them do this through subsidiaries and partners, others directly. It took them a little while to solve the regulatory, legal, and operational problems that kept them out of the markets in 2017, but now that they’ve figured that out, expect them to make the most of the time and money they’ve invested. For example, ICE plans to roll out a payment app, loyalty reward program, and merchant portal through its subsidiary, Bakkt. TD Ameritrade will offer bitcoin soon, likely through its own subsidiary, ErisX. Blockstack and YouNow completed the first-ever U.S.-approved Wall Street ICOs. Oh the minds, they are a changin’ In 2018, Morgan Stanley released a client-only report explaining why bitcoin serves an important role in diversified investment portfolios. Yale researchers announced similar findings and Fidelity opened a digital assets custody service. ICE announced Bakkt, TD Ameritrade bought ErisX, and CBOE sponsored a bitcoin ETF application. Other entities made other plays. More recently, a coalition of huge banks announced its intent to create a and Ripple invested in MoneyGram, a money transfer company. stablecoin for a blockchain-based global settlement platform Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, the world’s oldest bitcoin fund, grew to $1 billion market cap and now ranks as . Bitwise, Amun, and 3iQ created their own bitcoin funds while larger companies dabbled with derivatives and private trading desks. one of the top 5 holdings for Millennial investors In a recent survey, 76% of financial advisors reported receiving crypto questions from clients in 2019 and twice as many financial advisors . expect to add bitcoin their clients’ portfolios this year compared to last On the heels of the U.S. government’s approval of Stone Ridge Trust’s NYDIG Bitcoin Strategy Fund, at least one analyst predicts a . 60% chance regulators will approve a Bitcoin ETF in 2020 The cryptocurrency industry is backing up that interest with real development. Microsoft is working on ID solutions using bitcoin’s blockchain. Deloitte is using STORJ for a secure email and file management service. VeChain wins new clients seemingly every day. Ripple continues to grow. IBM and JP Morgan now embed crypto in some of their business services. Factom won another U.S. government contract. From what I can tell, it’s starting to sway the skeptics. After dumping on bitcoin for years, my wife’s cousin, a wealth manager, tells me he’ll buy some “when the price goes down.” When the naysayers change their minds, you know the message has sunken in. Catching up to the little guys While companies like Coinbase and Binance seem HUGE to you, they barely register a blip on Wall Street’s radar screen. At valuations of $8 billion (Coinbase) and $2 billion (Binance), investment bank Morgan Stanley could buy both of them with three months of cash receipts—and still have money to spare. Small players have dominated cryptocurrency since the beginning. In fact, they validated the business case. (In other words, they showed the big guys that you can make a lot of money with cryptocurrency.) Take BitOffer, a global trading service from Singapore. It offers options and passive investment funds for retail investors. It’s growing like crazy targeting young, savvy speculators with low-cost, low-minimum financial products, and plans to offer futures trading soon. Or eToro, a trading app that lets you copy-trade and buy diversified crypto funds. You think Bakkt hasn’t noticed? New entrants continue popping up, threatening Wall Street’s opportunities with crypto. Levidge, the company that built the engine for Binance’s futures platform, upgraded that technology to create a stand-alone, crypto-only derivatives platform that also lets users post cryptocurrency as collateral for buying traditional assets. Once Levidge opens, you can leverage your crypto for stocks, bonds, and “normal” investments instead of selling (and paying the associated taxes and fees). As your crypto keeps going up, you can use your gains to speculate on other assets, too. On top of that, this platform will let users create their own funds for others to invest in, like a private portfolio manager would. Isn’t that the same thing Wall Street does? With , Wall Street knows it can’t stay out of the cryptocurrency game. U.S. baby boomers expected to pass down $70 trillion to their Millennial children over the next few decades If they wait, the “little guys” will steal their future profits. Carpe diem In November 2019, Grayscale took the first steps to get U.S. regulatory approval to trade on U.S. exchanges. You can expect regulators will approve. Once that happens, Grayscale will have the same type of legitimacy as mutual funds and ETFs. It will also have access to mainstream investors. Keep in mind, Grayscale charges 2% in fees and trades at a premium that sometimes gets as high 20% (meaning, you might pay 20% more to buy shares in Grayscale instead of buying the same amount of bitcoin yourself, plus an extra 2% each year). Do you think another Wall Street firm couldn’t offer a better, cheaper version? If Bitwise and 3iQ can do it, surely the buy guys can, too. Also, consider Lightning Labs, which just raised $10 million for a payment platform that will replace Visa (and all other payment processors). It will use the Lightning Network to settle massive numbers of transactions instantly for fractions of a penny. Do you think Bakkt can’t use the Lightning Network to do the same thing? Every Wall Street firm can do all these things—or buy somebody who’s already doing it. But if they wait too long, these smaller players will corner the market before Wall Street has a chance to do so. Isn’t that the opposite of what crypto’s supposed to do? Wait, wait, wait. Wasn’t cryptocurrency supposed to destroy banks and financial firms? Wasn’t that whole point of decentralized networks and distributed authority? Rule of code, not man? Not your keys, not your bitcoin? Self-sovereignty and all that? Yes, that was the intent, but technology does not decide what happens to it. People do. Wall Street sees an opportunity to make money off of crypto. Don’t you, too? How is their greed any different than yours, Binance’s, or Bitwise’s? Greed is good . . . for who? If history’s any guide, Wall Street’s greed, er, “profit motive,” will lead to massive innovation and growth for cryptocurrencies—just like it did for mutual funds, ETFs, derivatives, retirement accounts, and online trading. All these innovations led to more stable, robust financial markets. Big money moves niche technologies to the mainstream. For example, look at the internet after the U.S. government handed it to telecom companies. always It boomed. But in the end, who won? Free internet died. Net neutrality died. Anonymity died. Privacy died. Those were core, fundamental reasons early internet users found the technology so compelling. And yet, most people would say the internet made the world a better place. It spawned a new era in trade, communication, and economic development. In doing so, it created new industries and creative opportunities unimaginable even 30 years ago. You’re reading this article because of the internet. Cryptocurrency has the same transformative potential. How it evolves is as much a practical matter as a technical one. Wall Street will have a big say in that. If you’re interested in more of my thoughts, read . Over the coming months, I’ll occasionally publish on this topic as I have something interesting to say. Bitcoin or Bust: Wall Street’s Entry Into Cryptocurrency For now, expect more financial interests to sink their teeth into cryptocurrency. Governments will follow later, as always. The masses will be the last to realize what’s going on. And we will all live with the consequences. Hopefully, good ones. Mark Helfman is a top writer on Medium for cryptocurrency, finance, and bitcoin topics. His book, Consensusland , explores the social, cultural, and business challenges of a fictional country that runs on cryptocurrency. In a past life, he worked for U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

2020 is The Year Wall Street Could Take Over Cryptocurrency

2019 has been a crazy ride, from Facebook announcing plans to launch its cryptocurrency Libra and digital wallet Calibra, to United States Congress on the project, to , to Craig Wright attempting to register . enforcing a moratorium China “seizing the opportunity” US copyright of the bitcoin white paper and the code for Bitcoin 0.1 This list of Crypto Top 20 Most Influential People is as diverse as ever, with crypto innovation seeping in from all corners of the world. 2019 has seen technologists, investors, policymakers and visionaries from all walks of life entering the crypto space, making for an interesting year in terms of cryptocurrency endorsement and regulation. The end of 2019 brings down the curtain on an all-important decade for cryptocurrencies and blockchain. In the space of ten years, Bitcoin has led the way for a wide variety of projects that have continued to shake up the space, with crypto innovation seeping in from all corners of the world - This list of Crypto Top 20 Most Influential People is as diverse as ever. As the past 12 months have shown, some of the world’s biggest institutions and businesses are actively looking to employ blockchain technology to improve the services they’re offering to users around the world. As these key influencers spread out and propagate around the world, 2020 is predicted to be an exciting year in terms of mass blockchain adoption. a.k.a. CZ, is the founder and CEO of Binance - the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. Binance has been very active this year from developing new products and services, such as DEX, country-specific exchanges to company acquisitions and even supporting governments with crypto adoption. 1) Changpeng Zhao 2) , is the CEO and co-founder of Bitmain, which is the world's largest computer chip company for bitcoin mining. In October, Bitmain announced it will start building the world's largest bitcoin mining plant. Jihan Wu 3) , is Co-founder and CEO of Twitter and Square, Dorsey has been an advocate for Bitcoin since the early days. Jack Dorsey 4) , is the head of Facebook’s Libra team - which could potentially introduce digital currencies to Facebook's billions of active users. David was formerly the president of PayPal, Marcus has sat in Coinbase’s Board of Directors since 2017. David Marcus 5) is the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, the world’s leading digital currency exchange. His vision is heavily contributing to making cryptocurrency more mainstream. Brian Armstrong 6) is the founder of Ethereum and an internationally recognized programmer. Vitalik Buterin 7) Winklevoss brothers - and , the co-founders of leading cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, and Winklevoss Capital. Tyler Cameron 8) a.k.a. Bitcoin Jesus, is an early investor in bitcoin, bitcoin-related startups and an early promoter of bitcoin. He is the owner of Bitcoin.com and Blockchain.com. Roger Ver 9) , founder and CEO of TRON, and also owner of BitTorrent and UTorrent. Earlier in 2019, Justin also was the winner of auction for a lunch with Warren Buffett. Justin Sun 10) has already made an important and lasting impact on the Blockchain industry. He is the founder of Litecoin and an internationally recognized expert. Charlie Lee 11) recently sworn in as Georgia's newest senator, was the former CEO of Bakkt, a subsidiary of ICE, focused on increasing institution and merchant access to digital assets. Having launched its Bitcoin Futures in Sep 2019, Bakkt reached an all-time monthly high of $37M within the first month. Kelly Loeffler Prior to her 15 years as CMO of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Loeffler served on the Board of Directors for Georgia Power Company. 12) created what we know as smart contracts, which essentially make cryptocurrencies possible. He has used his education in law and computer sciences to create the bones of what we know as the cryptoworld today in the form of the earliest cryptocurrency, Bit Gold. Nick Szabo 13) is a British cryptographer, cypherpunk, and crypto-hacker. He is the CEO of Blockstream and the inventor of hascash, the proof-of-work system used by Bitcoin. Adam Back 14 is one of the most influential and popular people in Blockchain. He is the co-founder of Ethereum and the founder of Consensys. ) Joseph Lubin 15) is a preeminent Blockchain thinker and developer. He is the CEO of IOHK and the creator of Cardano. Many consider his work a pillar of Blockchain tech. Charles Hoskinson 16) Leon Li is the Founder and Group CEO of , the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world from 2013 to 2017. Huobi Global 17) , Co-founder and CEO of BitMEX, the platform for traders to trade Bitcoin derivatives. Arthur Hayes 18) is one of the leading thinkers and speakers in the cryptocurrency space. He is an internationally recognized author, speaker, and crypto expert. Andreas M. Antonopoulos 19) is the co-founder of Paradigm, the crypto asset investment firm. Prior to Paradigm, Ehrsam was the co-founder of Coinbase and was previously a foreign exchange trader at Goldman Sachs in New York where he traded and managed Goldman’s electronic market-making platform. Fred Ehrsam 20) a.k.a. The Bitcoin Man, iconic with his Bitcoin Chain, is the founder of Crypto Chain University - the world's first repository for blockchain and crypto research papers, established in 2010. Herbert Sim Herbert is also an angel investor of multiple blockchain projects — FortuneZ, Future1Exchange, TaoDust, Karuschain, GLBrain, TEVEL. He was formerly Global Operations Director at Huobi, Chief Marketing Officer at Cryptology, and contributor to Forbes and Huffington Post.

Blockchain Influencers in 2020 [A Top 20 List]

The key features of the cryptocurrency sector in 2019 were the endless talks about the importance of legislation emergence for cryptocurrencies. On the one hand - regulation will finally bring the market to “real money” (both from state and institutional), and on the other - it will finally bring to the end the “Wild West” period. Many governments decided to copy the laws from the traditional financial sector. That’s actually not that bad, because having at least something is better than nothing. Anti Money Laundering (AML) rules and requirements to Know Your Customer (KYC) system also came to crypto from the traditional financial market. KYC/AML policy has been the basis for regulating the assets of financial companies for quite a long time in many European countries as long as in the USA, Japan, and South Korea. Moreover, these requirements are unified internationally. The launch of such practices means that cryptocurrencies and their matter in the global financial market are finally recognizable. What is now happening globally? The Fifth Directive of the European Commission Against Money Laundering (AML) was issued in July 2018, it deals with the regulation of cryptocurrencies. New rules are more strict, due to ensuring the transparency of transactions conducted by anonymous parties using cryptocurrency trading platforms. EU member states are required to implement the amended rules in their national laws no later than January 20, 2020. This June, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) Development Group published the final version of recommendations for the regulation of cryptocurrencies and the activity of cryptocurrency services operators. It is proposed to oblige cryptocurrency service providers (VASPs), including cryptocurrency exchanges, to follow AML and Counter-terrorism Financing (CFT) procedures are quite similar to traditional financial companies. Сountries that are members of the FATF must bring the legislation in line with the new recommendations, and the local VASP needs to debug the transaction tracking process until June 2020. Many countries have already added the appropriate changes to their laws: ahead of the rest, we have Belarus, Great Britain, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Thailand, Finland, Switzerland, South Korea, and Japan. Russian authorities have also repeatedly noted that they will regulate the cryptocurrency market joint with the FATF. Summarizing, we can say that cryptocurrencies are a subject to the transparency standard that governments are striving to set for the entire financial sector. Unified global cryptocurrency transaction registry One of the most important statements in FATF recommendations is the obligation of cryptocurrency services operators to transfer information about clients’ transactions of funds. At the same time, this information includes both transfers in fiat and cryptocurrencies. Mainly, we are talking about KYT (Know Your Transaction), which includes checking the client's cryptocurrencies for involvement in criminal schemes. To fit this requirement, cryptocurrency services operators will have to create a database of customers. Quite a similar situation was in 2016 when traditional finances by the international SWIFT system started forming the global KYC registry. Changes and updates in cryptocurrency exchanges work All cryptocurrency platforms and exchanges need to “change some rules” to fit new requirements: an access for users from countries under international sanctions are being limited; anonymous cryptocurrencies are being delisted; for some countries, branches must comply with local laws; the collaboration with analytical services that facilitate the implementation of customers transaction monitoring requirements; a cooperation with regulators, creation of own associations aimed at the formation of common international standards; interaction with law enforcement and tax authorities. It is worth noting that even decentralized exchanges such as IDEX is a clear example of fulfilling the requirements and introducing a mandatory verification of all users. Representatives of the platform referred to a statement by Brian Quintans, a member of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), that developers can be held accountable for illegal operations carried out by third parties using their smart contracts. New cryptocurrency platforms for Trading At the same time, traditional cryptocurrency exchanges have new competitors created by large corporations. What is important, such exchanges much easier can get the approval of state regulators, and therefore it is easier for them to establish cooperation with some partners from traditional finances, primarily with banks. The most famous example is Bakkt, it is owned by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the operator of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The platform received all the necessary work licenses from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Another similar example is the fully regulated Boerse Stuttgart Digital Exchange (BSDEX), launched by Börse Stuttgart (SWB), second Germany's largest exchange for the trading volume. Potentially, they can “squeeze out” the usual exchanges and occupy the bulk of the market, attracting new large institutional clients at the same time. In other words, they can become major players at a new stage in the development of the entire cryptocurrency industry. On the other hand, there is an expectation that the resistance of a part of the cryptocurrency community to the trend towards transparency and deanonymization can stimulate the development and distribution of truly decentralized exchanges (DEX), which at the moment have not gained mass popularity due to the complex interface. True, there is a possibility that the creators of such sites can also be held accountable for facilitating money laundering, as the developers of the same IDEX referred to. Services helping cryptocurrency companies to feet AML requirements The need for tracking transactions in the blockchain, together with a check of involvement in criminal activity, contributed to the development of many services, which can help in solving this problem. For example, EXMO partnered with the world-famous company CipherTrace. The system monitors cryptocurrency flows and assigns 1-10 risk level to wallets, depending on whether this address was received or sent by funds that were previously seen in use by drug stores, terrorist organizations, scam projects or mixers. There are about 20 similar projects on the market. Both government agencies of various countries and cryptocurrency exchanges turn to get help from such services. Moreover, the sites which belong to SBI Holdings and Rakuten also such. Many venture investors see prospects in the development of these projects, for example, CipherTrace attracted $ 15 million investment from Galaxy Digital by Mike Novogratz, Aspect Ventures, Neotribe Ventures, and WestWave Capital in early 2019. So shortly we can expect further development of such services and the distribution of their services at different sites working with cryptocurrencies. At the same time, their influence on the industry will grow. Blockchain transactions are more transparent than may seem Governments of many countries are working on their system for tracking and identifying currency transactions in the blockchain. At the G7 summit in July, U.S. Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin argued that the U.S. in 2019 they had enough sophisticated transaction scoring methods to begin the second phase of legislative regulation of decentralized finance. And the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said that they are happy that cryptocurrencies are used by drug dealers a year ago, as this simplifies the process of tracking illegal transactions. Curiously, last year Edward Snowden submitted secret documents according to which the US National Security Agency has been tracking bitcoin owners since at least 2013. Prohibition of the anonymous cryptocurrencies In connection with all the information outlined above, we observe close attention to anonymous cryptocurrencies, due they are created to increase anonymity. In 2019, all anonymous cryptocurrencies were officially banned in Japan. The need to implement such a ban is being discussed in other countries like France and Italy. Some cryptocurrency exchanges prefer to play it safe and remove anonymous cryptocurrencies from their sites in individual countries. It is worth to note that developers of these projects also monitor the actual situation and strive to meet the requirements for combating money laundering. For example, in 2016, Dash began cooperating with the Coinfirm blockchain platform to comply with the provisions of KYC and AML. The startup announced a new partnership with BlockchainIntel to meet the regulatory requirements of exchanges this year. ZCash team also claimed that with some additions they can meet the requirements while maintaining the anonymity of transactions. It is worth noting that according to CipherTrace’s study during the first half of 2019, criminals mostly prefer Bitcoins to any anonymous cryptocurrencies since anonymous crypto has more limited options to Buy and Sell. So, talking about illegal trading, Bitcoin is used in 76% of cases, and ransomware viruses - in 98%. Probability of a banning cryptocurrency ATMs and mixers Over the past 3 three years, the number of cryptocurrency terminals has grown worldwide in 6 times. But increasingly, authorities are talking about their use for illegal purposes. Spanish police believe that Bitcoin ATMs are widely used for illegal drug payments since they are not spelled out in EU AML rules. In Canada, the mayor of Vancouver has already proposed banning crypto machines. The local police department notes that criminals can easily establish their crypto machines and use them to launder money. And in Russia, crypto machines were seized in 6 cities at the request of the Prosecutor General and the Central Bank last year. Also, cryptocurrency mixers are often considered as laundering agents. These are online services that can increase the degree of anonymity in working with cryptocurrency, complicate or make it almost impossible to track transactions in the system. In early 2019, LongHash website noted that the number of anonymous Bitcoin transactions using mixing technology increased 4 times during the last 9 months. Mixers periodically close in Europe. There are cases when such services decided to close on their own. There were even allegations that North Korea used them to circumvent sanctions. Moreover, according to Chainalysis, only a small amount of bitcoins passed through mixer services is used for illegal purposes. 8.1% of coins in the mixers were stolen, and 2.7% were used to make transactions on the darknet, another 1.9% are transferred from gambling sites, which may be considered illegal depending on the jurisdiction. The subtleties of laundering via cryptocurrencies According to the statement of Rob Wainwright, the head of Europol, at the end of 2018, money laundering through cryptocurrencies accounts for 3-4% of all shadow finances (approximately $ 4-5 billion) in Europe. At the same time, cryptocurrencies are becoming less attractive to criminals. For example, according to a study by the RAND Center for International Security and Defense Policy of the American corporation, digital assets are not threatened as a tool for financing global terrorism, because it “does not provide proper anonymity, it has limited real-life applications, transactions are unsafe, the turnover is negligible, and crypto exchanges are constantly suffering from hacking.” What is the market's opinion on AML policy? Taking into account the main values ​​and ideas of blockchain technologies - anonymity, freedom, and non-control over the movement of financial flows, I think everyone understands that the compliance with KYC/AML is perceived ambiguously in the crypto community. Also, full compliance with these requirements often entails significant additional costs for companies, and after that, a decrease in resources aimed directly at development. Market players are aware of the reliability of the site increases, as well as the security of all operations and customer funds, the level of fraud in the industry decreases, and additional security guarantees are provided to users. Moreover, withdrawals of funds from illegal activities are prevented in real life (such as drugs, child pornography, and more). There is no need in saying that banks, brokers and other representatives of the traditional financial industry are much more willing to cooperate, which forms a favorable environment for the development of new areas of fintech related to cryptocurrencies, such as banking, insurance, and loans. Of course, the issue of transparency and full accountability in the modern world is perhaps one of the most controversial. However, the positive consequences of introducing AML requirements into the cryptocurrency industry may eventually lead to an unconditionally positive transformation of the entire financial system.

Fighting Against Fraud And Money Laundering - How Institutions Will Adapt to Crypto and Vice Versa

On September 23, 2019, Bakkt will finally launch physically-settled bitcoin futures contracts. According to everybody, this single event will send bitcoin’s price to the moon. Or will it? Some say the launch of cash-settled futures in 2017 . Bitcoin dropped 85 percent shortly after CME rolled out its first contracts. crushed the markets When talking about my book, I’ve had a chance to connect with people more connected to Wall Street than I am. I’ve also brushed up on financial concepts and learned about how large investors make real-world decisions. Consensusland , The truth is more complicated than “BAKKT -> FOMO -> MOON!” Contrary to popular belief . . . If you believe decades of economic research, you believe futures do not affect the price of underlying assets. Traders disagree, claiming big whales use futures contracts to manipulate the markets. In fact, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s own researchers suggested as much in their review of the 2018 bitcoin collapse. Who do you listen to? Egghead number-crunchers? Cool kids stacking sats? Central bankers who hate bitcoin? I don’t know, but I suspect Bakkt’s launch will not matter to bitcoin or cryptocurrency prices in general. If prices go up, it will happen for some other reason (even if the news says Bakkt did it). We already have bitcoin futures. Some large investors already report they bought bitcoin through brokers or directly from the markets, and others invested with other Wall Street firms. Fidelity Investments Survey: 22% of Institutional Investors Own Digital Assets Yale, MIT, Harvard, University of Michigan, Virginia’s Fairfax County pension fund, one of the Rockefeller family offices, and many other big investors already report owning some bitcoin. Also, U.S. regulators have approved physically-settled futures for Wall Street firm ErisX, too (and LedgerX once it ). Fidelity already provides custodial services for big investors and Goldman Sachs has subsidiaries in both the retail and institutional cryptocurrency markets. NASDAQ owns an exchange for security tokens. Financial institutions in Switzerland and Japan gone even deeper into the cryptosphere. fixes the paperwork issues delaying its futures contracts My point: while Bakkt was trying to get off the ground, investors and institutions moved forward. Buying up the market? Some say when Bakkt opens, it’ll have to buy tons of bitcoin for those futures contracts. As a result, prices will go up. I suspect Bakkt already stockpiled plenty of bitcoin in anticipation of the launch. Why would it risk coming up short? Rumors swirled that Bakkt was responsible for a on September 6, 2019—coincidentally the day Bakkt announced it would begin taking deposits. Observers claim those bitcoins went from Bakkt’s private stash to its active wallet. Bakkt said “no comment.” $1 billion bitcoin transaction If that’s correct, Bakkt’s bitcoin has already come out of the market. Once it goes to recipients of futures contracts, those recipients have no obligation to keep their bitcoin. They’re just playing the markets, with Bakkt making sure buyers and sellers hold up their ends of the deal. What’s to stop them from dumping their bitcoins after their contracts settle? Bakkt can’t dictate market direction. Traders still rule. Its entry will not show up as a sudden burst of FOMO, but something far more substantial: it will make cryptocurrency seem regulated, professional, and normal. Enter the behemoth Bakkt’s pedigree gives it a unique opportunity to bring mainstream credibility to cryptocurrency. While some exchanges have great reputations, none of them have Bakkt’s backing, expertise, trading infrastructure, and professional network. It’s like Coinbase on steroids, with derivatives, investment products, and merchant services running on the Microsoft Azure platform—plus dedicated market surveillance teams and government relations staff to keep markets running smoothly in full compliance with U.S. laws and the tightest security you can find. Bakkt’s parent company, , owns some of the largest and most successful stock and commodity marketplaces on earth. People involved with Bakkt have decades of experience in traditional finance. Bakkt’s backers include Horizon Ventures, M12, PayU, Pantera Capital, and Boston Consulting Group. Starbucks even signed a partnership. Intercontinental Exchange In addition to ICE executives steeped in traditional markets, Bakkt’s leadership includes alternative fintech pros and advisors from the cryptocurrency community. Bakkt raised and bought a white-hat back office, Rosenthal Collins Group. It’s building an entirely new marketplace from the ground up with one goal: dominate the cryptocurrency markets like its sister company, the New York Stock Exchange, dominates the equity markets. $182 million of investment capital If Bakkt succeeds, it will change the whole dynamic around cryptocurrency. It will allow a “safe” place to dabble in cryptocurrency and create a big, entrenched corporate interest that wants to see cryptocurrency succeed (and will pay marketers, lobbyists, and PR firms to help it do so). $22 trillion in registered U.S. investment funds FOMO comes later Depending on whose survey you believe, between 47% and 76% of professional fund managers want exposure to bitcoin. They’re not going to plop $50 million into a Binance account or wire that money to Gemini. Their legal departments would throw a fit. But Bakkt? Yea, ok, it’s the guys who run the New York Stock Exchange. They’re a legit as it gets. While this will bring some new money into the markets, you will not notice. Big money enters a little at a time, often through private networks. For reasons not worth getting into here, they have to play by different rules, especially with an asset as small as bitcoin. Also, they’re not usually HODLers. These guys are pros who move money in and out of markets all the time, either directly or through derivatives (sometimes both at the same time). If bitcoin does another 4x, they’re going to sell. Bakkt gives them another playground, but its plans go way beyond professional investors. It’s putting hundreds of millions of dollars into an institutional and retail juggernaut—as ICE’s CEO called it, a “moonshot” global cryptocurrency marketplace that brings cryptocurrency to the masses. In addition to its Starbucks partnership, Bakkt’s already running educational and training sessions for potential users, hoping to spread excitement through word-of-mouth. Assuming Bakkt can work out the inevitable kinks and hiccups that come with every new venture, it will take its services to that mass market, along with a lot of money, influence, expertise, credibility, and publicity. Why do you think Google to allow “regulated exchanges” but nobody else? reversed its ban on crypto advertising Could we see a Super Bowl commercial? Subway ads? Content marketing and are doing? like T Rowe Price Fidelity Changing minds before making money Bakkt’s partnership with Starbucks? Its white-hat lineage? Its tight relationships with regulators? Its network of professional, compliant, responsible businesspeople with experience in “normal” markets? All these things create an image of credibility—the type of credibility necessary to convince Main Street to take cryptocurrency seriously. You will know whether Bakkt succeeds if in the next year or two, you start to hear people say “cryptocurrency is safe now, U.S. government regulates it, you don’t have to worry about frauds and hacks and exchanges stealing your money. It’s risky, of course—never invest more than you can lose—but it’s not a ponzi scheme or scam.” And that belief will allow up to 72% of people who report interest in buying crypto to rationalize “putting a little money” into bitcoin or alts. After all, who knows? It’s safe now, and you just might get rich. At that point, cryptocurrency will move from a small group of less than 40 million people worldwide (based solely on the number of bitcoin wallets) to a global base of 500 million people who already own some kind of financial instrument and many more who would buy from an app or service. Alongside them, they’ll have big-moneyed U.S. interests with established reputations, skin in the game, an interest in seeing prices go up, and a platform for making money when those prices go up. And unlike the professional money-makers, many will not sell after bitcoin goes up 4x. Or 8x. Or 20x, like some people predict. In fact, they will likely buy more. Wen moon? Mark Helfman is a author of , a 5-star book about a country that runs on cryptocurrency. You can also catch him at , where he publishes a new post every Friday. Consensusland Readers’ Favorite MarkHelfman.com

Bakkt Will Cause MORE THAN Just the Next Bitcoin Bull Run. Stay Onboard

By Eleanor Haas, blockchain/crypto columnist for Iconic Holding, advisor to ventures and Astia Angels and Director, Keiretsu Forum Mid-Atlantic. Unlike other asset classes, crypto investment began with retail trading, not adoption by institutions. Early adopter crypto funds soon followed. Now it’s the turn of institutional investors. Importance of Institutionalization 80% of equity market cap is held by . So it is not surprising that institutionalization is essential if digital assets are to scale, as stated by KPMG, the Big Four auditing firm, in a report published last November entitled “ .” institutions Institutionalization of Cryptoassets “Institutionalization is the at-scale participation in the crypto market of banks, broker dealers, exchanges, payment providers, fintechs, and other entities in the global financial services ecosystem,” the report says. “Institutionalization . . . is required to build trust, facilitate scale, increase accessibility, and drive growth,” the report continues. “Interestingly, even though there are large price fluctuations with Bitcoin, it is not inherently volatile. The supply is in fact fixed and algorithmically secured. It is the demand that is fluctuating, and this could eventually stabilize as the market matures,” the report adds. The value, writes Jeff Horowitz, Coinbase chief compliance officer, in the same report, is the opportunity cryptoassets represent to transform the financial industry into a truly open global financial system. What will give cryptoassets staying power, the report asserts, is their ability to reduce friction and inefficiencies within the global economy. Challenges for Institutionalization In addition to the need to comply with laws and regulations, KPMG cites the gap between use cases and development execution as a major challenge for institutionalization: more than 2,000 significant cryptoassets already exist but most have no functional product. Four important use cases listed are: Bitcoin as a digital store of value, Ethereum as a means to raise funds, Litecoin as a cheap and fast peer-to-peer medium of exchange, and the tokenization of traditional assets. The KPMG Solution As one would expect, KPMG has developed a solution to propose to crypto businesses that want to scale while addressing the challenges — a comprehensive framework of nearly 20 components. Promising Outlook Prospects for attracting institutional investors to cryptoassets are favorable. Last month Fidelity Investments, the fifth largest asset manager in the world, released that showed why institutional investment in cryptoassets is likely to grow significantly over the next five years. Fidelity surveyed 441 institutional investors — such as endowments, financial advisors, hedge funds and pensions — from November to February on their outlook on crypto investing. findings 22% of respondents have already purchased cryptocurrency — a remarkable increase from near-zero in 2016. 40% of respondents said that they are open to future investments in digital assets in the next five years Nearly half of respondents — 47% — said that they see a place for digital assets in their investment portfolios. In terms of how they invest, Fidelity found that 72% prefer purchasing investment products that hold or represent digital assets, such as futures, while 57% choose to purchase cryptocurrency directly or to buy equity in digital asset-related companies. Institutional Engagement is Here Actions speak louder than words, and major institutions are stepping up to the plate. Three examples: Fidelity Investments. Fidelity has already taken a lead. It formed a new company last year, called Fidelity Digital Assets, through which it is building “the technical and operational capabilities needed for securing, trading and supporting digital assets with the exacting oversight required by institutional investors.” Earlier this year, it announced it was beta testing its with a “select set of eligible clients.” trading and custody solutions Bakkt. , a digital asset exchange from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), owner of the NY Stock Exchange was expected to launch late last year and is now scheduled for late this year, with beta testing this summer. It will be one of the first institutionally backed cryptocurrency trading platforms as well as the first to launch physically settled Bitcoin futures. The is expected to bring in a large number of institutional investors by providing them with a regulated ecosystem for investing in and securely storing cryptoassets. It could be a critical factor in triggering the next crypto market bull run. A major cause for the launch delay has been ongoing work with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the regulatory agency in charge of overseeing derivatives products in the country. Initially, Bakkt sought explicit CFTC approval for each new product. Now, Bakkt will self-certify its bitcoin futures products through ICE. This means that the CFTC will assess each proposed product for compliance, with ten days to identify issues before the product can go forward. Bakkt platform . Conservative institutions, led by two pension funds, funded a new Morgan Creek crypto-focused venture fund to the tune of $40 million in February. Morgan Creek is an asset manager focused on institutional clients and family offices. The two public pensions anchoring the fund are Fairfax County, Virginia’s and . Other fund investors include a university endowment, a hospital system, an insurance company and a private foundation. The First Pension Fund Investments Police Officer’s Retirement System Employees’ Retirement System The size of the two pension funds illustrates the potential of pension funds for crypto investing. The police pension fund has $1.45 billion in assets; the employees fund has $4.25 billion. Morgan Creek’s investment opportunities will be primarily sought in equity, though the fund will be open to a limited number of security token opportunities that provide cash flow provided they comply with Reg D. The investment portfolio will be thoughtfully structured to meet the needs of established investors with a long view, according to Anthony Pompliano, partner at Morgan Creek Capital. Crypto Funds Investment funds already play a critical role in institutional investing, with an estimated 60% of institutions’ assets under management in hedge funds. The funds add value by enabling investors to diversify efficiently into non-correlated asset classes and by introducing asset managers with the experience to manage risk and the skills to optimize returns. Crypto funds can be expected to be even more important for institutionalizing cryptoasset investments because the crypto asset space is all new and even more difficult to navigate than traditional investing. In addition, it still has more than its share of scams. It’s early days for crypto funds, but they’re growing rapidly. The first annual crypto hedge fund report by estimates the number of crypto hedge funds at 150, most of them small. Over 60% have less than $10 million in AUM, with fewer than 10% managing over $50 million though a number have over $100 million, according to the report. PWC Elwood (By comparison, Hedge Fund Research estimates the number of hedge funds at nearly 10,000 as of the end of 2017, the largest of which, Bridgewater, had $124.7 billion in AUM. ) Emergence of the Crypto Asset Management Industry Iconic Holding is playing a leadership role in helping to give birth to the new crypto asset management industry with the Iconic AMaaS solution — Asset Management as a Service. — which will launch in Q3 2019. Iconic experienced the challenges crypto asset managers face at first hand in the course of issuing its first crypto index funds last year. The company found enterprise-grade service providers few and far between in crypto, leaving managers to cobble together the least of the evils for the major capabilities a crypto fund requires and then to figure out how to get them to work together as a harmonious whole. The complexity of the need was far greater than could be met by a software platform. It encompasses: Market data Custody Trade execution Liquidity Audit Compliance Banking Fund administration So to develop its own index fund infrastructure, Iconic built a network of licensed crypto service provider partners and connected them via API to create an interoperable ecosystem that functions seamlessly through a single digital portal. Asset managers showed interest in this framework, and Iconic decided to make it a market offering for any would-be crypto asset manager. The hope is that AMaaS will dramatically speed the set-up and optimize the operation of compliant crypto funds, lowering pricing — and, in the doing, accelerate institutionalization of cryptoasset investing. Conclusion Will a substantial number of institutional investors be able to find a reliable and trustworthy environment in the crypto space within, say, the next five years? Will a large percentage of financial assets become digital within, say, the next ten years? Will the use of digital assets via the blockchain actually produce increased transparency, openness and auditability pivotal to a fairer and more open economy? It could happen! <a href="https://medium.com/media/3c851dac986ab6dbb2d1aaa91205a8eb/href">https://medium.com/media/3c851dac986ab6dbb2d1aaa91205a8eb/href</a>

INTERCONTINENTAL EXCHANGE

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51-200 employees

Since 1994

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INTERCONTINENTAL EXCHANGE

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INTERCONTINENTAL EXCHANGE

theice.com

51-200 employees

Since 1994

COMPANY RANKING

INTERCONTINENTAL EXCHANGE

EVERGREEN INDEX #6171

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