Crypto’s Big Endorsement… and Even Bigger Opportunity

Amanda Heckman|November 5, 2022

Happy birthday, Bitcoin…

It’s been 14 years since Satoshi Nakamoto’s infamous white paper was published.

“Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” laid out a radical vision for decentralized electronic cash.

The idea quickly captured the attention of tech-savvy, liberty-minded folks…

Followed by the skeptical eye of the financial media.

And boy, how things have changed since then.

Far from being the fringe financial oddities they were in their early days…

Bitcoin and its fellow cryptos have cemented themselves in our economy and our financial markets.

Sure, crypto still has its skeptics… but they’re being drowned out by the roar of momentum digital assets possess.

It’s clear more and more folks… including those running famed financial institutions… agree with what we’ve been saying for years…

That crypto will play a huge role in the future of money.

Smart investors (including more than a few Manward readers) who’ve been watching the industry closely stand to gain the most as that happens.

Uncovered

One of crypto’s biggest endorsements yet came this week… from one of the biggest financial rags out there.

Bloomberg Businessweek published a cover-to-cover story (only the second one in the magazine’s history) on crypto…

It was a comprehensive look at the what, how and why of crypto.

The author, Matt Levine, wrote that as someone who likes finance, he believes crypto is “amazing.” After all, it built an entire financial system from scratch… in just 14 years.

And as we move more and more of our economy online, Levine is certain crypto will play a role in the transition.

Devoting an entire issue to the story of crypto is a huge statement. As the folks at CoinDesk (one of the web’s most popular crypto blogs) noted, it shows how seriously investors are taking the asset… and how far crypto has moved into the mainstream.

Right Here, Right Now

But bigger than a mainstream thumbs-up is the number of real-world use cases that crypto is being tested in now…

In a huge move, JPMorgan Chase used the altcoin Polygon (MATIC) to conduct its first live trade (worth about $71,000) on a public blockchain. That trade’s success means crypto has made big inroads into the financial markets… not just as an asset class to trade but also as a framework for making trades.

Polygon has also partnered with Meta Platforms-owned Instagram on nonfungible token (NFT) tools that will allow users to create and sell digital collectibles on and off the social media platform.

Stephane Kasriel, Meta’s Head of Commerce and Fintech said, “Blockchain can enable entirely new business models for creators that give them more control over their work and audiences, and how they monetize.”

While skeptics have dismissed NFTs as a joke… the move could open an entirely new revenue stream for both Instagram itself and its nearly 2.5 billion users. And that’s no joke.

Elsewhere on the blockchain… Swiss banking giant UBS Group priced its first publicly traded digital bond. The three-year, $370 million bond is the first ever to be listed, traded and settled on a digital (blockchain-based) exchange.

The move “removes a hurdle on the way to adopt[ing] new disruptive technology that can make issuing bonds faster, more efficient and simpler.”

That’s music to our ears.

Worth the Wait

JPMorgan and UBS aren’t the only financial giants that have been busy with crypto…

Fidelity – the investment fund manager with nearly $10 trillion in assets – recently announced the creation of Fidelity Crypto. With it, retail investors will be able trade Bitcoin and Ethereum on their phones… commission-free. And the asset manager just opened an early-access waitlist for investors ahead of the launch.

The move comes thanks to “meaningful” interest in crypto from Fidelity users. And it comes on top of a planned 401(k) product that will allow investors to put up to 20% of their retirement funds in Bitcoin… plus a new crypto exchange Fidelity is launching along with Charles Schwab and Citadel.

It’s clear our financial markets are in the midst of a crypto transformation… one that’s giving investors new ways to trade not just crypto but traditional assets as well.

As Andy likes to say… We’re not even in the early innings of this game…

But we’re excited by the starting lineup. The opportunities will only grow from here.

Note: Are YOU invested in crypto? Waiting out market volatility? A crypto nonbeliever? We want to hear from you. Sound off here. (We’ll share our favorite responses in a future issue.)