A new voice from US big finance has added his weight to the increasing evidence institutional investors are corning the newly-stabilized cryptocurrency market.
Cho: ‘Professionalization Is Happening’
Speaking to Bloomberg on October 1st, Bobby Cho, global head of trading at Cumberland, the crypto division of trading and investment firm DRW Holdings, said the market was “turning the corner” from its “Wild West” early years.
Amid talk of multiple Wall Street firms preparing Bitcoin trading opportunities, entities such as hedge funds are the major purchasers of coins in the latter half of 2018.
“What that’s showing you is the professionalization that’s happening across the board in this space,” he told the publication.
Despite Bitcoin (BTC) [coin_price] entering a noticeably less volatile chapter in its short history this year, attitudes are still changing rapidly among those looking to enter the market on larger volumes.
As recently as July, commentators from the financial sector were decidedly less sure about even the short-term outlook.
Bitcoinist reported Alston & Bird’s Blake Estes as saying at the time:
For chief investment officers, there’s only downside risk in cryptocurrency. It would take a leap of faith with a new custodian with no brand recognition. That presents a real risk for them.
‘Tight Range’ Turns Heads
At the same time, however, not everyone is waiting on the sidelines. Even a brief spate of sideways movement is reassuring some parties. According to Cho:
Over the last four to six months, the market has been trading in a very tight range, and that seems to be corresponding with traditional financial institutions becoming more comfortable diving into the space.
The landscape will likely change dramatically in the coming months. The products currently under development from Intercontinental Exchange, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs would all offer regulated investment options for a segment of big money which has hitherto faced hurdles to entry.
Further down the line, cryptocurrency commentators consider the appearance of the hotly-contested Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) to be certain, despite ultimately being a mixed blessing for cryptocurrency as a whole.
What do you think about Bobby Cho’s perspective on cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Twitter/@robertjcho.