New York Digital Investment Group announced the completion of a $200-million growth capital funding round for business initiatives relating to Bitcoin (BTC). The funding round was led by NYDIG strategic partners Morgan Stanley, Stone Ridge Holdings Group, Soros Fund Management and MassMutual, among others.

NYDIG, a provider of Bitcoin-related technology and investment services, will work alongside its strategic partners in applying Bitcoin-focused solutions to the insurance, banking and clean energy industries. NYDIG’s co-founder and CEO, Robert Gutmann, said:

“The firms participating in this round are more than investors — they are partners, each well known to us for years. NYDIG will be working with these firms on Bitcoin-related strategic initiatives spanning investment management, insurance, banking, clean energy, and philanthropy.”

Following on from a spate of high-profile Bitcoin acquisitions by various institutional entities, Gutmann said the latest partnerships were a sign that institutional adoption of Bitcoin had arrived.

“These partnerships leave no doubt that institutional adoption of Bitcoin has arrived and, further, that NYDIG is the partner of choice for serious financial services firms with the highest fiduciary and diligence standards,” said Gutmann, adding: “In the months and quarters ahead, look out for an explosion of innovation in Bitcoin products and services delivered by NYDIG, in partnership with our new investors.”

NYDIG also announced on Monday that among life, annuity, and property and casualty insurers who utilize its platform, over $1 billion worth of Bitcoin investments are now held in its institutional custody service.

The founder and executive chairman of NYDIG, Ross Stevens, said the latest round of funding from institutional investors was good for the company and BTC. “I am thrilled by what this group of incredible investors will mean for NYDIG, but especially for Bitcoin,” said Stevens.

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Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/nydig-raises-200m-from-strategic-partners-as-total-bitcoin-custody-tops-1b

American banking giant Goldman Sachs has officially confirmed its plans to revive a cryptocurrency trading desk amid increasing demand from investors.

Matt McDermott, global head of digital assets for Goldman Sachs’ global markets division, announced that the company will provide access to CME Bitcoin (BTC) futures on its upcoming crypto platform. In a Friday Exchanges at Goldman Sachs podcast, the executive also noted that Goldman Sachs will offer crypto services with non-deliverable forwards, or NDFs, which are cash-settled, and usually short-term, forward contracts.

McDermott noted that initially Goldman Sachs’ crypto platform will be limited to these two products, stating:

“We’re actually going live with that crypto trading desk, which would be quite narrow initially, but we will focus on CME futures and non-deliverable forwards. And we’re also now disseminating Bitcoin content to our institutional clients through our Marquee platform.”

According to McDermott, Goldman Sachs’ move into crypto comes in response to the increasing demand from its clients. Citing an internal survey of nearly 300 clients, the executive said that 40% of Goldman Sachs’ investors currently have exposure to crypto. “That seemed actually a little high to me, but I felt that was kind of very reflective of the demand we’ve seen over the last three to six months,” he said.

The executive also reported that 61% of Goldman Sachs’ surveyed clients expect digital-asset holdings to increase over the next year. Particularly, 76% of those surveyed see Bitcoin ending 2021 between $40,000 and $100,000, McDermott said. However, only 22% expect Bitcoin to surpass the $100,000 mark by the end of 2021, he noted.

Goldman Sachs originally wanted to set up a crypto trading desk in 2018, announcing the plan in late 2017. At the time, Bitcoin was sitting at its former all-time high levels after hitting $20,000 in December 2017. Following a subsequent sell-off on crypto markets in 2018, Goldman Sachs was rumored to have canceled its crypto desk plans. Eventually, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon strongly refuted that the bank ever had plans to open a crypto trading desk in 2019.

In the latest interview, McDermott pointed out that the existing crypto landscape is very much different than 2017 in terms of growing institutional demand. “2017 was very much a retail-driven market. This time around, we’ve seen a huge volume of institutional demand across a broad spectrum of different industry types,” he said.

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Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/40-of-goldman-sachs-clients-already-have-exposure-to-crypto-survey-shows

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) is struggling to break past $51,000 on March 8 as the U.S. Treasury yield is rising again, while the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) is at the highest levels in over three months.

The global stock market, including equities in the United States and Asia, has pulled back in tandem as the U.S. Senate’s stimulus approval has sparked inflation fears.

Why is Bitcoin dropping off of inflation fears?

As Welt market analyst Holger Zschaepitz explained, the bond market turned into turmoil as the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield surged to 1.6% after the stimulus news broke.

The instability in the bond market naturally led to a sell-off of risk-on assets, affecting both stocks and cryptocurrencies. The analyst wrote:

“Bond turmoil continues w/US 10y yields jump to almost 1.6% as the $1.9tn US fiscal package alongside robust Chinese trade data fuel inflation fears.”

Stocks and Bitcoin have seen a tightening correlation in recent weeks, likely due to the increasingly unfavorable macro landscape.

Peter Brandt, a long-time futures and foreign exchange trader, said he has seen many correlations throughout his career. However, he said that correlations can also come to an end “dramatically.”

Hence, in the foreseeable future, Bitcoin could move in tandem with stocks as the markets react negatively to the rising Treasury yield. But on longer time frames, the bull run of Bitcoin could strengthen and gain momentum if the correlation begins to weaken. He said:

“Through my 46 yrs. trading I have seen MANY sacred correlations come and go. Gold v. Yen or USD or stocks. Silver vs. Gold. Interest rates v. stocks or Gold. BTC v. whatever. Et al. When these correlations come to an end, they often end dramatically. Study each market with its own chart.”

Nevertheless, March may turn out to be a slow month for BTC, trading with low volatility.

Is a bigger drop coming?

If the traditional market drops, traders seemingly anticipate a broader Bitcoin pullback in the near term.

For example, pseudonymous cryptocurrency trader Loma said a short-term drop to $48,000, an important support level, cannot be ruled out if the legacy markets continue to show weakness. He wrote:

“Base still forming, I’m liking how everything is playing out. Only concerns are temporary legacy market correlations so if we dump tomorrow, I’d anticipate a re-visit the lows or at least the EQ at ~$48k. Still taking it easy on trading, focusing more on $BTC and $ETH.”

This week, the key for Bitcoin is whether the DXY sees a pullback after a week-long rally, providing the risk-on market some room for a relief rally.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, the Treasury yield is also approaching a key resistance area, and if it gets rejected, Bitcoin could regain momentum in the near term to rally above the next big resistance areas at $52,000 and $53,000.

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Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/beware-the-ides-of-march-bitcoin-slumps-as-treasury-yields-and-the-dollar-rise-again