Ruffer – an investment management firm headquartered in London – recently made over US$1.1 billion in profits trading Bitcoin.
Perfect Timing
The investment was made late last year when the cryptocurrency started slowly climbing past the 10k mark. The original investment worth $600 million proved its worth quickly – and Ruffer sold some for a $750 million profit in December and January.
According to Hamish Baillie, an investment director at the firm, the company took a hands-on approach, actively watching market trends in order to predict the best times to sell.
When the price doubled we took some profits for our clients in December and early January. We actively managed the position and by the time we sold the last tranche in April the total profit was slightly more than $1.1 billion.
Hamish Baille, Ruffer investment director
Considering a correction similar to the one happening now also took place in December and January, it seems Ruffer’s analysis was spot-on.
Bitcoin price AUD
However, the company correctly predicted that the price would continue to rise. Reported to have had one of the largest Bitcoin portfolios among institutional investors, Ruffer sold everything just before Bitcoin veered onto a correction course in May.
According to Baillie, the decision to invest in Bitcoin was founded on the fact that many young people were staying at home and focusing on investing – which Baillie reportedly believes is one of the main factors driving the skyrocketing price of cryptocurrencies.
The decision to cash out also coincides with the end of heavy lockdowns – or in some countries, the end of lockdowns altogether. As a result, many young people are returning to the office, which could mean cryptocurrency trading websites see less activity.
Future Crypto Investments Not Off The Table For Ruffer
However, Baillie says that although Ruffer has exited the crypto market, for now, future investments in cryptocurrencies by his firm are definitely not off the table. For now, the profits have been invested in inflation-linked gilts – which are government-issued bonds that rise according to the retail price index.
This guide will give you a basic overview of all the main aspects of the cryptocurrency space including Bitcoin and Blockchain technology.
What is a crypto coin?
A virtual currency that is native to its own blockchain.
Only a limited number of coins exist
Used for transactions within its own blockchain.
Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, is the best example of a cryptocurrency coin. It exists as a unit of value on its own independent ledger.
Thousands of other cryptocurrencies exist including Litecoin, Ethereum and Ripple – all of which have different value propositions. Read more about Cryptocurencies.
Bitcoin (BTC) a unit of value ?
Bitcoin is seen as a store of value because it is a finite resource. The source code was released in 2008 by satoshi nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin, stipulates that no more than 21 million BTC can be “mined”. To-date 19 million have been. The closer “miners” get to 21 million, the longer it takes to create each new coin. This is known as “inelastic supply” meaning its supply is locked and does not change based on supply and demand. Read more about Bitcoin.
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is the technology followed by many cryptocurrencies to verify that a payee is the legitimate owner of the coin. It does this by keeping a ledger of each coins movements when being passed to a new owner. Each transaction is approved ensuring that movements meet the networks protocols. Read more about Blockchain.
BTC Decentralised System
Like the Australian dollar (USD), sterling and other currencies Bitcoin is a fiat currency, meaning it has no intrinsic value and its price moves in relation to supply and demand.
Unlike paper currencies, which are monitored by the worlds central banks to certify their authenticity BTC relies on a decentralised system of digital signatures and digital coins where all transactions are kept on the blockchain.
The system relies on miners, a collective of independent individuals who volunteer their own computing power (nodes) to monitor, review and approve transactions.
Being outside the current financial system and being limited to 21 million BTC means it cannot be debased by central bank policies or debt-fuelled spending by governments.
Some thoughts on the future of BTC
Recently some major corporations have invested in BTC thus adding to its credibility. The demand from this sector has also pushed up the BTC price.
If BTC became more widely accepted as a payments system this would also add to its credibility. For this activity to expand BTC will need smaller denominations to be readily available to facilitate everyday purchases. Just as there are 100 cents in each dollar so there are 100 million satoshis in each BTC. If Statoshis’ were to become more widely held and were priced in the marketplace this would enhance BTC’s position as a means of exchange.
As an example of how BTC is entering the payments space, Paypal has unveiled a feature called “checkout with crypto” in a bid to gain traction in this space. This feature allows customers to convert their crypto-currency holdings seamlessly into fiat currency at the checkout.
How to participate in the cryptocurrency space?
Owning Bitcoin
Like owning any asset, the owner is speculating, that in the future, the price of the item will rise.
You may wish to own a cryptocurrency for several reasons:
Hold it as a source of wealth for the long term.
Use it as a method of payment.
Trade the item on an exchange for short term profit/loss.
If you decide to enter this space you should be aware of the following:
Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile instruments that are subject to unpredictable swings in their price.it is difficult to determine or predict the exact causes of this volatility.
It may be advisable to invest in several cryptocurrencies to spread your risk.
It may be advisable to have a risk management strategy in place before you invest.
Remember BTC is priced in us dollars (USD). When you buy and sell in Australian dollars (AUD) you are exposing yourself to currency exchange risk.
Ensure that you deal with an established exchange, as they hold your asset on your behalf. See our Australian Exchanges Comparison Table to find one that meets your needs.
Most financial advisers advise that owners commit only a small portion of their portfolio (say 2-3%) to cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin Conference 2021 – held in Miami, Florida on June 4-5 to discuss Bitcoin – had its share of funny moments, which were as usual more like Miami Zoo than Miami conference.
Here are some of this year’s highlights!
#1 Max Keiser Had A Message For Musk
Following a couple of tweets that Elon contributed to the falling price of Bitcoin, many fans of Bitcoin weren’t all that happy about his antics.
Max Keiser started his session with Michael Saylor with a heartfelt and explicit message to Elon.
#2 Dogecoin Fan Storms The Stage
One of the fans of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin took the opportunity to create some mayhem, storming the stage to shed his business suit to reveal a danceworthy doge outfit.
Twitter user @maxotg, whose bio has been updated to “Yes I’m the Dogecoin dude”, took the responsibility – or credit, depending how you look at it – for the stunt.
EthereumMax (EMAX) is a relatively small Ethereum-based cryptocurrency that sponsored Floyd Mayweather in his June 6 fight against YouTuber and boxer Logan Paul, since described in at least one report as “the easiest $150 million ever made”. Although it’s unknown whether the terms of Mayweather’s contract included showing up at the conference wearing a shirt promoting EMAX, he did – after which he changed into a shirt spruiking his own jewellery business.
Venezuela has been blighted by hyperinflation for five years now, which has led many Venezuelans to adopt cryptocurrencies as hedges against it.
Cake Wallet, an open-source crypto wallet popular among Monero users, took the opportunity for a publicity stunt involving dumpster bins full of Venezuelan Bolivars.
The marketing campaign seems to have worked, judging by the number of fresh profile pics among attendees of this year’s conference.
Although the next crypto conference may go relatively smoothly, stunts such as these are no rare event at these gatherings – so stay tuned for the next round of pranks.
#5 Funny Moments At Other Conferences
For this last one let’s take a look at some of the other crypto conferences’ funny moments.
Carlos Matos and the legendary Bitconnect Conference
EDCON 2019 – Vitalik and Ethereum Foundation dance and rap
Circle, the company behind USDC (currently the second largest stablecoin) just beat the record for the investment round with the most capital received by a crypto-related company.
1/4 ANNOUNCEMENT: Circle has raised $440M in a strategic financing to accelerate our growth and market expansion. This comes on the heels of extraordinary growth in USDC adoption, and acceleration across our business. https://t.co/RbWg4O90B1
According to Forbes, the investment round garnered a total of $440 million USD from institutional and private investors alike. It is $18 million USD more than the prior record of $422 million USD raised in 2018 by Bitmain, a company that offers custom crypto mining solutions worldwide.
Aside from setting a new record in the crypto space, this investment is also in the top 10 private fintech investments of all time. Five of the largest crypto-investments in history have been in 2021.
Company
Amount raised (in USD)
Date
Circle
$440 million
28 May 2021
Bitmain
$422 million
7 August 2018
BlockFi
$350 million
11 March 2021
Dapper Labs
$305 million
30 March 2021
Blockchain.com
$300 million
24 March 2021
Bakkt
$300 million
16 March 2020
Coinbase
$300 million
30 October 2018
Bitmain
$292.7 million
19 June 2018
Bitso
$250 million
5 May 2021
Hangzhou Qulian Technology
$235 million
4 June 2018
Bithumb
$200 million
19 April 2019
Ripple Labs
$200 million
1 October 2020
In a public statement, Circle thanked everyone for their trust and reiterated their commitment to using stablecoins in order to improve the payments landscape.
The financing, among the top 10 in private fintech investments, fuels the company’s continued growth, organizational development and market expansion opportunities. We are grateful to our colleagues, customers, strategic partners, investors, regulators and other stakeholders who are continuing to work with us in making Circle’s vision a reality.
Overall, this has been an important year so far for institutional investments into crypto, with the public listing of Coinbase being one the highlights.
The SEC has been in a legal battle with Ripple for a while, with certain developments seeming to lean in Ripple’s favour.
Last development sees Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn denying SEC’s request for Ripple “to produce all communications constituting, transmitting, or discussing any legal advice Ripple sought or received as to whether its offers and sales of XRP were or would be subject to federal securities laws”.
The judge’s decision seems to have made Ripple’s fair notice defense stronger. About a month ago, the SEC filed a request to the court demanding to strike the “fair notice” defence from the Ripple case altogether, calling it “legally improper”. Ripple invoked that claiming that SEC failed to warn them (and other market participants) about XRP being an unregistered security.
SEC Attorney Looking At Retiring
According to a report from only a few days ago, one of the SEC’s attorneys, Dugan Bliss, asked to withdraw from the case, leaving SEC.
If Dugan Bliss’s request is granted, the case will go on with the SEC continuing to be represented by Jorge G. Tenreiro, Daphna A. Waxman, Jon A. Daniels and others. The whole operation is being led by SEC attorney Preethi Krishnamurthy.
In April, Dugan Bliss stated that – as far as he knows – the SEC had not yet taken an official position on ETH either.
So I want to make clear that this is my understanding of the current situation and I don’t want to be overly technical, but the SEC, itself, my understanding, it has not taken an official position. There is no action that it took to say Bitcoin is not a security, Ether is not a security.
Bitcoin has made some unexpected TV appearances over the years, appearing in some of our favourite mainstream shows and sitcoms.
Let’s take a look at our top 10 TV shows featuring Bitcoin.
1. The Big Bang Theory – The Bitcoin Entanglement (2017)
Sheldon and the gang talk about how the price of Bitcoin has increased significantly and suddenly remember they mined a bunch of it back in 2010. Then follows the old story – they realise they lost track of the flash drive and their dreams of being rich disappear, as usual.
2. Silicon Valley (2018) – Gilfoyle Crypto Powerpoint
The show features a PowerPoint presentation by Gilfoyle about cryptocurrencies. Outlining that Bitcoin was the first to crypto, it paved the way for more to come (just as Myspace did for Facebook and Twitter). “Crypto is out there and it’s not going away”. The plot leads to an ICO, thus welcoming PiedPiperCoin into the world of fictional digital assets.
3. The Good Wife – Bitcoin Commercial (2012)
The Good Wife watches an explainer video on the introduction of Bitcoin as digital money. Explained Bitcoin as “You can buy it from currency traders online or you can mine it like gold. One Bitcoin’s worth $3, it used to be $33”.
4. The Simpsons (2013) – Crusty The Clown on Bitcoin
Crusty the Clown breaks it down to Lisa, that he’s broke due to some “bad luck at the ponies” and the worst luck in the Bitcoin market. I wonder what crusty was trading back in 2013.
5. Crypto (2019) – The Movie
Kurt Russell stars in the movie Crypto as a father to AML (anti-money laundering) officer, played by Beau Knapp. Throw in some Russian Mafia and tens of millions in anonymous Bitcoin transactions and you’ve got yourself a blockbuster worth watching.
6. Billions (2018) – Crypto Profits
Axe from the popular show HBO Billions, hides his secret Wall Street trading profits in crypto on a Ledger USB stick. He was “Paid in crypto, of course”.
7. Family Guy (2017) – Bitcoin Mention
After a family prayer to God, asking to help save them from being poor, Peter has a brainwave: “Bitcoin!”.
8. House of Cards (2014) – Bitcoin Mention
The hidden internet – where you can go to find anything and everything including “Bitcoin laundering”.
9. Mr. Robot (2016) – Bitcoin Mention
The Ecorp villians from the Mr Robot series discuss making their own digital currency called Ecoin. They explain: “The problem here is hard cash is fading… rapidly. That’s just the way of the world right now and Bitcoin is spreading and if Bitcoin takes over we are all in a world of hell”.
10. Jeopardy (2013) – Definition of Bitcoin
Question: “A digital currency in which transactions can be performed without the need for a central bank?” Answer: “What is a Bitcoin!“
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFnCkxc8tCo
That’s our round up of the best TV shows mentioning so far!? What’s your favourite? leave a comment in the Twitter thread.
The third annual Global Crypto Hedge Fund report, released on Monday, aims to provide an overview of the global crypto hedge fund landscape. With the majority of the report looking quite bullish for the crypto space, it appears institutions are warming up to crypto.
Crypto hedge funds have heavily increased their Assets under Management (AuM) in the past year. The 39 surveyed funds are currently at $180 billion USD AuM and according to the report, 86% of them are intending to add more capital into the asset class by the end of 2021. This is a massive 4,600% increase from $3.8 billion USD AuM in 2020. The average AuM for this year’s surveyed funds increased from $12.8 million USD to $42.8 million USD.
Some major topicsdiscussed in the report:
Decentralised Exchanges Usage By Hedge Funds
Fund Manager Bitcoin Predictions
Future Fund Intentions
Reasons and Obstacles to Investing
Decentralised Exchanges Usage By Hedge Funds
DeFi protocols aim to deliver peer-to-peer financial services, which allow cryptocurrency trading, loans, interest accounts without the use of banks or traditional finance intermediaries.
Between April 2020 and April 2021, the trading volume on these platforms grew more than 90-fold, with Uniswap making up for half of the DeFi market volume in April 2021.
3rd Annual Global Crypto Hedge Fund Report
Whilst they may be still far from using decentralized applications, many financial institutions are trying to be more educated and try to understand the potential impact that DeFi may have on the future of financial services.
Henri Arslanian, Global Crypto Leader at PwC
Fund Manager Bitcoin Predictions
Data shows that managers remain bullish on Bitcoin, with the median predicted price being estimated at $100,000 USD. In fact, the majority of predictions were in the $50,000 to $100,000 USD range (65%), with another 21% predicting prices would be between $100,000 and $150,000 USD.
Market cap predictions are also optimistic, with the majority of fund managers estimating the total crypto market capitalisation will be between $2 and $5 trillion USD. Meaning that they see there is still lots of investing to be done in the space before the end of the year.
3rd Annual Global Crypto Hedge Fund Report
Future Fund Intentions
The decentralised finance (DeFi) space has gotten a lot of attention in the past year with traditional finance looking at new technologies and adding them to their portfolio. The oracle service Chainlink (LINK) was included in 30% of hedge fund investments, with blockchain interoperability protocol Polkadot (DOT) and liquidity protocol Aave (AAVE) making up 28% and 27%, respectively.
The survey highlights that around a fifth of survey hedge funds are currently investing in digital assets. And when asked what investment strategies (fundamental, trading, arbitrage, venture, pre/post ICO, passive, other) best describe hedge funds exposure to digital assets, the majority responded with fundamental (57%) and trading (57%).
Reasons and Obstacles to Investing
Reasons given by hedge fund managers for including digital assets in their portfolio are ‘general diversification’ – as per 57% of respondents. Of the remainder, 29% stated ‘exposure to a new value creation ecosystem’ as the primary reason to invest while 14% suggested that it made for a good inflation hedge.
The main obstacles to investing, regulatory uncertainty is by far the greatest barrier (82%). Even those who do invest in digital assets cite it as a major challenge (50%). Client reaction/reputational risk is high (77%) as well as digital assets being outside the scope of current investment mandates (68%).
3rd Annual Global Crypto Hedge Fund Report
Around two thirds of Traditional Hedge Funds said that if the main barriers were to be removed they would either actively accelerate investment in digital assets or potentially change their approach and become more involved (64%).
From the findings in this report it’s evident that hedge fund allocations to digital assets continue to gain traction. Diversification and exposure to a new value creation ecosystem are cited as key drivers for investing in digital assets. This is unsurprising given that hedge funds tend to be early adopters, at the forefront of innovation whilst remaining committed to achieving the best performance possible. Further education, regulatory clarity and the evolution of service providers and related market infrastructure could lead to the acceleration of increased investment and further institutionalisation of the industry.
May has been definitely one of the craziest and most volatile months for the crypto market so far in 2021.
There are several possible reasons why the market has shaken so much. The previous bull run attracted new traders and investors entering the crypto world, sometimes without any proper training and buying at the top of the market.
With so much happening, some crypto traders have taken their stories to Reddit, especially sharing their frustrations and to blow off some steam.
Some Lost Everything
Some traders were hit hard by the crypto crash — seeing even 50% of their portfolio vanished, losing life savings, the chance to pay their houses, car, or even rent.
One user shared his story on how he and his wife lost 50% in their total investments, and now they can’t buy a car and their dreams of being homeowners will be put on hold — and to complete the picture, they have a baby incoming.
However, despite the adversity, they still don’t plan to sell.
She was upset, but she said we shouldn’t sell for a loss, and just to keep holding for the next few years and act as if the money doesn’t exist. […] Remember, if you do all the investing, that means you did all the losing. Don’t deny this.
A Reddit user
Some are Staying Optimistic
One trader said the crypto crash came amid an already rough month for him. Despite the adversity, he incited everyone in the community to not let themselves go in a downward spiral if they’re going through a similar situation. “Remember to consider the good things in life first before dwelling on depressing news and events”, he said.
Excited for crypto to change the world for the better, just going to take a little bit longer than we want but the good things always take patience and especially this year, I am trying to be as patient as any sane person in these tumultuous times.
A Reddit user
Some traders believe the current situation is an opportunity for everyone that wants to join the crypto space but thought they were already too late. One user bought ETH when it was priced around $120 USD. However, he emphasised the difficulty of buying the dip especially when there’s a lot of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) going on and the markets are in red, adding “it takes courage to buy dips”.
The thing I’m trying to say is that it’s impossible to time the market, but don’t call people who buy at dips ‘lucky’. It takes courage to buy at long time lows, not knowing if the market is going to back up. It’s much easier in hindsight, during a bull run. Remember this.
Nevertoolavish, a “custompreneur” based in Jakarta, has made limited-edition hand-painted sneakers for crypto enthusiasts.
Although many custom pairs of kicks are simply colour changes, some are made by artists who change plain white into elaborate designs and dreamy sketches – or into crypto fashion statements.
Aside from these BNB-themed shoes, custom AF1s are available for fans of Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Cardano and others. A pair of these will set you back around 445 AUD (excluding shipping and other fees) according to the product page on Tokopedia (only for Indonesian customers).
For those international customer (outside Indonesia) interested on Crypto AF1 please DM us, there're several following steps 🙏🏻
As mentioned on Twitter, international customers have to inquire Nevertoolavish directly. However, their Twitter profile cannot be direct-messaged so you might need to contact them via WhatsApp (numbers provided on Twitter profile). There is also a LinkTree page with more resources.
Not Only Shoes, NFTs Too
In addition to selling custom shoes and other clothing items, Nevertoolavish also sells NFTs, created through the same thought process used to give solid colour shoes a fresh coat of paint.
Although crypto fashion has been around for a while, it’s mostly been limited to virtual pieces. There have also been notable exceptions, however, such as SwapPay – an Aussie Cryptocurrency for Fashion made specifically for the fashion industry. Some big brands seem to be aware of this niche, indeed Nike holds a patent for blockchain-based sneakers.
Now, however, you can show your love for crypto by wearing an eye-catching fit.
As the crypto market continues its biggest correction of 2021, while future investments are hedged and day traders rush to cash out, more experienced investors resign themselves to jumping yet another HODL hurdle.
Although steep corrections are just business-as-usual in the crypto world, there are a number of factors setting this particular correction apart from previous ones and pointing to broader issues in the crypto sphere.
There is a prevalence of shitcoins
The term “altcoin” looks definitely outdated – many new cryptocurrencies really do bring something unique to the table and are backed by plenty of research and development.
Everyone is looking to get a piece of the crypto pie – and for every Chainlink (LINK) or Cardano (ADA), there is an army of cryptocurrencies that either have arguably no real use case, like Safemoon, or were explicitly created as a joke. Not only do investors stand to lose a lot by investing in dodgy cryptos – the rugpulls many of these coins do lower the level of trust in cryptocurrencies overall.
New crypto traders are entering the crypto space without training and buying at All-Time Highs (ATH)
In a market where DYOR (Do Your Own Research) raises from common sense to paramount importance, many investors hop right in and buy the latest crypto they heard about on Twitter. There often seems to be a lack of understanding of the project behind a certain coin, let alone the planning of an investment or trading strategy.
Combined with the excitement of being involved in the crypto space, the desire of quick gains and maybe the fear of missing out on that, some people end up buying at the ATH of a certain cryptocurrency. A quick look at a price chart would have indicated that a correction could be imminent.
Thankfully, resources like Binance Academy are doing a great job of breaking down the basics and turning new investors into more seasoned veterans.
Certain individuals are able to cause 25% price swings with a single tweet
The popularity of some “cool billionaires” has definitely contributed a lot in terms of public awareness of cryptocurrencies. However, the veneration bestowed upon them can also lead the same fans to take sharp turns with their own crypto positions, based on their celebrities activity on social platforms like Twitter.
Such influence results in certain coins getting pumped (or dumped) in price just because they are mentioned by a popular supporter. Case in point, Dogecoin (DOGE) – which may be funny, but at the end of the day, it was created as a joke.
Two consequences stand out: on one side, uneducated retail investors may end up making poor decisions with their cryptos just by following the hype and social media noise. On the other, the control a given influencer seems to have on the price volatility of specific cryptos makes them, if not the overall market, less attractive for institutional investors.
Over 60% of Bitcoin mining power is still controlled by China
Bitcoin is now mainly mined in huge facilities, as the difficulty has gone up making the process not financially viable for small mining rigs. Many Chinese entrepreneurs have made their fortune by sprawling complexes pumping out digital gold. Unfortunately for them though, the Chinese government doesn’t seem to be too happy with cryptocurrencies outside of their tentative CBDC. Bans or policies on cryptocurrency issued by the country where 60% of BTC is mined can have tragic consequences for the corresponding markets.
Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work blockchain consumes an excessive amount of energy
Bitcoin has changed the world of digital payments. Unfortunately, given its current scale and rate of adoption, the Proof-of-Work (PoW) component of the the most popular cryptocurrency’s blockchain is now causing huge amounts of energy consumption globally.
As the bull market that lasted for over half a year seems to be fading, it’s important to remember that this has happened plenty of times before. The market will hopefully emerge from this temporary hurdle stronger and more mature than it previously was.
