Mike Novogratz thinks Bitcoin’s long-awaited institutional investor pile-in will happen by Q2 2019 as his Galaxy Digital tests Fidelity Investments’ new custody solution.
Custody Opens Road To Influx In ‘Q1/Q2’ 2019
Speaking to Bloomberg October 15, the infamously bullish Novogratz said that while Bitcoin market maturity was taking “a little longer than you hoped it would,” the advent of custody improvements like Fidelity’s would ultimately facilitate institutional onboarding.
“It’s not going to happen overnight,” the former Goldman Sachs partner told the publication.
…[The Fidelity product] probably be up and running in January or Q1, and then you’ve got to run some water through the pipes, so my guess is you start seeing institutional flows into purely cryptoassets late first quarter – early second quarter.
On Twitter, the entrepreneur added Galaxy was “thrilled” to be among the first “alpha” users of the custody solution.
Exciting news. We are thrilled to announce #GalaxyDigital as @Fidelity @DigitalAssets’ alpha crypto custody client #theherdiscoming https://t.co/87yeysYSFM
— Mike Novogratz (@novogratz) October 15, 2018
No $10k Before Investment Watershed
As Bitcoinist reported, the tool will incorporate Bitcoin and Ether for clients such as professional traders and hedge funds, with plans to expand to more assets in future.
Commenting on the plans, Fidelity Digital Assets’ head Tom Jessop appeared to suggest they would follow activities from other finance actors such as Intercontinental Exchange, whose “regulated ecosystem” for cryptocurrency Bakkt is scheduled to begin with physical Bitcoin futures in November.
“The creation of Fidelity Digital Assets is the first step in a long-term vision to create a full-service enterprise-grade platform for digital assets,” he said.
For Novogratz meanwhile, the remainder of 2018 looks decidedly less likely to produce a seismic shift in crypto markets.
“I don’t see us breaking $10,000 by the end of the year but I think [in] Q1/Q2 if the institutions start coming in, we’ll put in new highs,” he continued.
Interestingly, the time frame coincides with a likely deadline for US regulators to approve at Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
In September, Novogratz had claimed crypto markets had definitively “bottomed” at closer to $6000, the sentiment which over half of respondents to a survey by Fundstrat Global Advisors subsequently claimed to agree with.
What do you think about Mike Novogratz’s Bitcoin forecast? Let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bitcoinist archives
