WHALE STREET

Bitcoin prices continue to rally as Wall Street doubles down on crypto

Around this time last year, crypto began the historic surge that culminated in spring’s all-time highs — a rally driven partly by Wall Street and corporate America’s increasing adoption of BTC. Since the start of October, Bitcoin has rallied nearly 20% as the S&P 500 has remained mostly flat. And with investments in the sector setting records — crypto firms raised $6.5 billion in the third quarter of 2021 — it’s clear that institutional crypto adoption wasn’t just a fad. Let’s dig into Wall Street’s latest crypto moves.

• Banking giants are increasingly offering clients crypto products. U.S. Bank, the country’s fifth-largest bank, announced it will offer Bitcoin custody services for fund managers — joining players working on similar products including Bank of New York Mellon and Northern Trust. And in its first-ever research report dedicated to crypto, Bank of America noted, “We believe crypto-based digital assets could form an entirely new asset class.” 
• Global firms and fund managers are also considering ETH, DeFi, and blockchain tech. A CoinShares report found that 42% of institutional respondents said they were most bullish about ETH; French investment bank Société Générale posted about potential DeFi offerings on an established crypto forum; and Visa outlined a “Universal Payments Channel” — a flexible network for digital currencies, including CBDCs.
• George Soros’ fund revealed that it holds BTC. Speaking to Bloomberg, Soros Fund CEO Dawn Fitzpatrick said, “I think it's crossed the chasm to mainstream." Elsewhere, J.P. Morgan analysts suggested that Bitcoin may be a better hedge than gold, an idea echoed by billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya.
• Meanwhile, Bloomberg analysts predict that four BTC futures ETFs could be approved by the end of October. ETFs — which provide investors exposure to an asset class without having to hold the asset themselves — are popular components of retirement-savings plans. 

Why it matters… Wall Street’s conventional wisdom around crypto has flipped in the last year — from high-risk bet to a mainstream component of a diversified portfolio. In a recent interview, legendary investor Bill Miller explained some of the appeal: "Bitcoin is a lot less risky at $43,000 than it was at $300. It's now established, huge amounts of venture-capital money have gone into it, and all the big banks are getting involved."