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Digital asset markets have come a long way since Satoshi Nakamoto’s bitcoin whitepaper was published 15 years ago. As blockchain technology has evolved, new tokens, companies, and investment opportunities have emerged, offering investors various investment opportunities. We believe embracing a multi-asset approach to digital asset investing enables allocators to capture significant idiosyncratic alpha opportunities and reduce risk.
When the Appeals Court reversed the SEC’s rejection of a spot Bitcoin ETF proposal in 2023, it set the foundation for the next wave of digital asset adoption. Today, investors can access BTC and ETH via spot ETFs from traditional brokerage accounts. Over the coming months, several large wealth management platforms with trillions of dollars in AUM are expected to approve spot BTC ETFs for advisors to use on their platforms. We also expect to see spot ETH ETFs approved on these platforms next year. In addition, we will likely see other spot ETF products for other cryptocurrencies announced, widening the investment opportunity.
In the near future, investors may have other avenues to access spot digital assets beyond ETFs. With proper regulation by the SEC, OCC, and CFTC, traditional brokerages and banks may allow customers to buy spot directly in their brokerage accounts. Should anyone buy a passive ETF for one stock? Probably not. Current regulations have prohibited large financial institutions from offering this service. But recent developments, such as the Bank of New York’s move to custody crypto, suggest a positive step in this direction. Investors should be preparing for this shift. Galaxy’s comprehensive report on The Digital Asset Investable Universe offers a starting point for investors to better understand how they can gain access to different investment vehicles.
As the regulatory environment improves, we believe there are dozens of blockchain-related companies looking to go public, joining the roster of public companies already operating in the digital asset space. As of this writing, we track over 320 public companies across different categories as shown below. 1[1] Most of the direct exposure to crypto with current public equities is found with bitcoin mining companies (e.g. RIOT), companies that hold bitcoin on the balance sheet (e.g. MSTR), or financial services companies that facilitate cryptocurrency trading and/or payments (e.g. COIN). Some investors may want to get exposure to the digital asset space through equities given they trade on regulated exchanges. This is also true for derivatives on these equities and ETFs.
Recently, the SEC approved derivatives for one spot BTC ETF, marking an important milestone for investors. Derivatives allow investors to hedge their exposure, create income streams, and establish synthetic long and short positions. Many investors do not have many options (pun intended) for hedging spot crypto/digital asset exposure due to the lack of regulatory clarity, strict qualified custodian rules, and the inability to access offshore platforms that provide such derivative exposure.
Given the nuances of each asset class, using a multi-asset approach to crypto investing offers more opportunities to capture alpha. Until the asset class matures and regulation is in place, digital assets will remain a higher risk, higher reward asset class with significant growth opportunities. This environment creates mispricing opportunities inherent in assets exposed to high volatility, a trend we see across all asset classes from fixed income to cryptocurrencies. Ultimately, this presents opportunities on both the long and short side to extract alpha and manage risk.
Further, the sell-side barely covers digital asset public companies, the buy-side largely ignores these equities given the lack of benchmark risk, and institutional investors continue to underappreciate the changing regulatory/political environment which will usher in significantly more growth opportunities for the technology. Regardless of who wins the election in November 2024, we believe a new regulatory approach to digital assets will be adopted allowing many more companies to use public blockchains. As a result, investors should consider opportunities today to capitalize on this opportunity.
At Galaxy Asset Management, we’re building products and strategies to offer investors accessible yet sophisticated exposure to digital assets.
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