Darren Kleine

Hope springs eternal. Or at least a few years. Maybe a decade or two?



It’s been a decade since the first ever spot bitcoin ETF application. After yet another series of spot bitcoin ETF decision delays by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the question persists: where should a crypto-focused investor allocate funds in the event that an ETF does — some glorious day — actually earn approval?



In lieu of an SEC-blessed spot bitcoin ETF, the industry offers numerous avenues for crypto exposure right now: mining companies, venture funds, traditional stocks in companies like Coinbase and MicroStrategy, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust shares (GBTC), and of course, actual “physical” crypto held in storage — hopefully, cold.&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-delay-decision-bitcoin-etf-blackrock">Delays mount: SEC defers ruling on BlackRock, Fidelity bitcoin ETFs</a>



So would the approval of a vaunted ETF really change the space all that much? Or is it nothing more than crypto’s MacGuffin, artificially pushing the plot forward with bitcoin’s orange glow emanating from a regulatory briefcase?



For institutions with billions of dollars to move around, things would definitely change for the better, says Jason Yanowitz on the Empire podcast (<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/2oPsCyBKOSDPMgOqDF0FkC?si=qf08D7LnTTGhvTIzf0XL7w">Spotify</a>/<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grayscale-etf-triumph-uniswap-case-dismissal-and-10/id1554930038?i=1000626445036">Apple</a>). “Let&#8217;s say you&#8217;re trying to deploy $2 billion into bitcoin,” he says, “it&#8217;s very tough to do that.”



“You have to get a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/dubai-based-otc-crypto-exchange-attracts-sanctioned-traders-report">crypto native OTC desk</a> and implement it like that. The ETF is going to bring enhanced liquidity. It&#8217;s going to reduce the need for physical holdings,” he says.



In the same way that people don&#8217;t want to physically hold gold, slipping precious metal bars under their beds, people don&#8217;t want the responsibility of holding their own bitcoin, Yanowitz says. “They don&#8217;t want to deal with that.”&nbsp;



On top of the secure custody advantages, an ETF offers increased price transparency and discovery, “which institutions want,” he says.



For individual investors, an ETF provides a wider array of investment strategies. However, this might come at the cost of forgoing certain offerings that have previously acted as proxies.



“Historically,” long-time crypto investor Santiago R. Santos says, “investors have allocated to the industry by investing in venture funds, hedge funds and Grayscale products.”&nbsp;



Santos says a spot bitcoin ETF will likely have a negative impact on large scale funds and entities like Grayscale, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/judges-grayscale-sec-ruling">if it fails to convert to an ETF</a>. With Grayscale’s current GBTC trust, “the fees are very, very high,” Santos says. “It’s charging a one percent fee or so, whereas an ETF charges basis points,” which are “an order of magnitude less.”



“Crypto natives historically have allocated to Grayscale products through a tax advantage account, like a Roth IRA,” Santos says. With an ETF, he says, “that also becomes a possibility, which is fairly advantageous.”



An ETF offers investors enhanced access and exposure to bitcoin. It introduces a number of strategies with options markets, and facilitates the ability to borrow “in a cost-efficient manner,” he says.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">This time isn’t different</h2>



Santos then asks Yanowitz, “if you had a hundred dollars to invest from scratch,” with all the options available today and ETFs to boot, “how would you allocate that hundred dollars?”



“I’m buying bitcoin and <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/coinbase">Coinbase</a>, probably. Those are my two,” he replies, choosing to invest in something he can buy and “forget about” for ten years. “Why buy the ETF when you could buy the underlying [asset]?” he asks.



Santos answers the rhetorical question, reminding Yanowitz that an ETF offers Roth IRA possibilities, which is impossible with physical bitcoin. But such a strategy might require an investor to “max out their allocation” to achieve similar results, Yanowitz replies.



“The most dangerous thing in crypto from an allocating perspective,” Yanowitz says, “is thinking that this time will be different. And if you look at all the last cycles, bitcoin leads.”



<iframe loading="lazy" frameborder="0" height="200" scrolling="no" src="https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=BWG9512845548" width="100%"></iframe>







“Bitcoin leads, that capital flows into <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum">ETH</a>, that excess capital in ETH flows into —  in 2017 it was ICOs, in 2020 it was <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/defi">DeFi</a>, in 2021 it was <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/nfts">NFTs</a> — that keeps pushing out on the risk spectrum until the cycle is over.”



With a potential spot bitcoin ETF next year alongside <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-halving-a-year-out">the halving</a>, a presidential election and continued pressures to “<a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/issue/32052120">turn the money printer back on</a>,” Yanowitz concludes, it’s “tough to be bearish Bitcoin right now.”&nbsp;



Despite the years of delays, the crypto faithful remain hopeful — and the convoluted plot continues.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Will investor behavior change once an ETF is approved?

Michael Bodley

Cryptocurrency-focused investment firm CoinFund has bifurcated its in-house legal team, betting on one incoming attorney to drive portfolio company deals and keeping in place the business’ general counsel to oversee more traditional functions.



Maintaining two attorneys at an executive level isn’t exactly commonplace among crypto fund operators — even ones running both liquid and illiquid venture capital strategies.&nbsp;



CoinFund’s recent hire of Dilveer Vahali in the newly created position of head of venture legal represents the firm’s bid to draw a line in the sand between the business needs of both verticals.&nbsp;



Vahali last worked for the Chermin Group, a private investment firm that counts crypto companies on its funded list, and before that spent time as a partner at Kirkland &amp; Ellis LLP, where he worked with private equity firms and merger and acquisition initiatives.&nbsp;



It appears, though, that <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/coinfund">CoinFund</a> General Counsel Stewart Eichner, who also holds the title of chief compliance officer, is set to continue to play a role in operations across CoinFund’s business lines.&nbsp;


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignright size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="480" height="480" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=300&amp;h=300" alt="" class="wp-image-63739" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=480 480w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=150 150w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=257 257w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=261 261w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=219 219w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dilveer-Vahali.png?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Dilveer Vahali, courtesy CoinFund</figcaption></figure></div>


Vahali at CoinFund has been tasked with “being the deal guy,” he told Blockworks, intending to blend his experience from the competitive world of closing large scale private equity transactions with a crypto-native approach. Private equity investing has a more established set of norms around legal needs and compliance, he said, including differentiating between in-house and external counsels.&nbsp;



“In traditional private equity, you have the legal folks, the general counsel, the folks who are managing the legal processes,” he said. “In crypto, and because CoinFund is evolving so quickly, it was kind of to fill this hole with somebody who can take deal execution back from the business team and oversee our portfolio companies and be a sounding board when they have questions.”



CoinFund, which operates venture capital funds and a liquid hedge fund that invests in tokens, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/investment-firms-dominate-week">recently raised $158 million for a new venture fund</a>, Seed Fund IV, capping off a steady year in which the firm appeared to have avoided a number of the missteps of its competitors through choppy markets and whipsawing venture valuation.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Portfolio companies looking for legal help</h2>



This year, the firm&#8217;s executives, including President Chris Perkins, have also engaged in discussions concerning the US regulatory landscape, advocating for stablecoin legislation and other key initiatives.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinfund-president-crypto-regulation">‘Safe harbor’ proposal resurfaces in CoinFund president’s call for crypto laws</a>



Vahali said his role combines legal needs with business functions, with the aim being to provide portfolio companies with the means and know-how to quickly close on new business opportunities. It’s also intended for the attorney to be available as a legal sounding board for companies, often operators too nascent and without the capital to justify shelling out on their own legal expertise.&nbsp;



“It’s even less of us telling [portfolio company founders] what to do,” he said. “A lot of the companies we invest in are early stage, so just having a lawyer that they can talk to, it’s like, ‘Hey, I got a call the other day about credit card processing in the United States from a foreign business.’ They are like, ‘Do you know folks who can do that?…What’s the process?’”



Managing Partner David Pakman, CoinFund’s head of venture investments, pushed for the creation of the firm’s venture legal role, citing increased deal flow, in part, for the new position.



CoinFund has invested in more than 100 crypto companies, many of them early-stage, including <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/defi-sector-raises-50m">backing in June the $10 million seed round of Neutron</a>, a <a href="https://blockworks.co/category/defi">DeFi</a> blockchain protocol.&nbsp;



With crypto markets continuing to bank on a continuing recovery this year, Vahali said he’s noticed an uptick in merger and acquisition activity as of late.&nbsp;



“What I can tell you from my vantage point is I have seen activity pick up, and I’ve seen more founders coming to us, more potential deals coming in,” he said. “I still think it’s not where it was in 2021, when we were going gangbusters, [which then] flushed out a lot of folks who maybe weren’t in crypto for the right reasons.”



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

CoinFund taps ‘deal guy’ as first head of venture legal

David Canellis

<div id="highlights-block_627d021c364d3" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Germany’s Federal Ministry of Finance has finally outlined nationwide tax guidance on the crypto ecosystem</li>
 <li>Crypto investors will be pleased with the tax break but full-node stakers could be disappointed</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Crypto investors in Germany won’t pay tax on sales of digital assets such as bitcoin and ether — as long as they’re held for more than one year.



Germany’s Federal Ministry of Finance shared the ruling in a 24-page <a href="https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/Downloads/BMF_Schreiben/Steuerarten/Einkommensteuer/2022-05-09-einzelfragen-zur-ertragsteuerrechtlichen-behandlung-von-virtuellen-waehrungen-und-von-sonstigen-token.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&amp;v=1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">document</a>, which formally defined blockchain concepts such as mining, staking, airdrops and masternodes within the context of the country’s tax system.



The decree marks the first time Germany has issued nationwide tax guidance on cryptocurrency. It was crafted in close consultation with the country’s 16 federal states, as well as top financial institutions.



Government ministers had held a hearing last summer to gauge sentiment among local crypto associations such as Bitkom and other market participants — including individual investors.&nbsp;



One of the most pressing questions related to whether lending or staking cryptocurrency extends the tax-free period on digital asset sales to 10 years, as is the case with buy-to-let properties.



“The deadline is not extended to 10 years if, for example, bitcoin was previously used for lending or the taxpayer provided ether as a stake for someone else to create their block,” State Secretary Katja Hessel said in a <a href="https://bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/Downloads/BMF_Schreiben/Steuerarten/Einkommensteuer/2022-05-09-einzelfragen-zur-ertragsteuerrechtlichen-behandlung-von-virtuellen-waehrungen-und-von-sonstigen-token.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>.



EU policy expert Patrick Hansen, who advises Presight Capital on crypto ventures, told Blockworks that dropping the 10-year rule was “by far the most important demand of the German crypto community.”



“This is already a huge success and makes Germany a very attractive country crypto-tax-wise,” Hansen said.



Germany has a long history in cryptocurrency. Historically, the nation has been one of the largest contributors to both Bitcoin and Ethereum networks — 9% of Bitcoin nodes (1,443) and more than 14% of Ethereum nodes (847) are based in Germany.



In its 2022 State of Crypto Report, digital asset exchange Gemini reported that 17% of German respondents owned cryptocurrency — in line with the rest of Europe. More than half of the German respondents were “crypto curious” and planned to buy digital assets for the first time within the year — five percentage points higher than the French and 17 percentage points higher than the Danes.



Germany&#8217;s finance ministry did not advise specifically on non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Instead, blockchain-powered tokens were divided into categories: Utility, Security, Equity, Debt, and Payment, with some provisions for “hybrid” tokens that can be used in multiple ways and would ultimately be taxed on a transaction-by-transaction basis.



The ministry’s letter also gave some clarity with regard to airdrops, a popular method of distributing crypto tokens as a means of attracting users and liquidity. Earlier this year, Yuga Labs airdropped <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/apecoin-in-for-a-volatile-ride-as-exchanges-list-bored-ape-yacht-club-linked-crypto/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ApeCoin</a> to Bored Ape NFT holders for use within the upcoming BAYC gaming ecosystem, for example.



Germany’s finance ministry outlined situations in which airdrop recipients would have to pay income tax — such as exchanging access to the airdrop for personal data or social media posts.



But if the recipient doesn&#8217;t have to take any action to receive the airdrop, there won’t be any income tax. Airdrops can still be taxed like other gifts, though, Hansen explained. “People normally have to pay taxes on airdrops, but there will be a lot of exemptions,” he said.



Hansen expressed that another “very important” provision outlined rules for paying staff in crypto. The ministry ruled that crypto tokens, which have no market value (because they are not listed on any exchange), won’t be attributed to the taxpayer. This means tokens paid to employees won’t be taxed until they become tradable.



All this is good news, according to Hansen. But the letter leaves something to be desired, he notes, namely the ministry still views staking digital assets via full nodes as a commercial activity, which has “big tax implications” for gains made by full-node operators compared to third-party staking providers.



“This sets the wrong incentives in my opinion,” Hansen said. In any case, he considers Germany “definitely ahead of most other countries in the world in terms of crypto regulation, taxes, [anti-money laundering] rules, particularly its travel rule implementation, and the crypto business licensing.”



This story was updated at 2:40pm ET on May 12 2022 with details on German ownership of cryptocurrencies. 



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Germany Affirms Crypto Sold After One Year Is Tax-free

Ben Strack

<div id="highlights-block_62680c40ae00e" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>“Fidelity’s engine of distribution will swell demand,” SkyBridge Founder Anthony Scaramucci said</li>
 <li>US Department of Labor said last month that 401(k) plan fiduciaries must exercise “extreme care” before investing in crypto</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Fidelity is set to allow individuals to allocate a portion of their retirement savings to bitcoin through the company’s 401(k) plan investment lineup, which some industry watchers view as a key milestone for the growing industry.



The Boston-based financial services provider’s workplace <a href="https://www.fidelityworkplace.com/s/digitalassets" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Digital Assets Account</a> (DAA) offering is expected to be available to the roughly 23,000 employers using Fidelity’s platform by mid-year.



Dave Gray, the company’s head of workplace retirement offerings and platforms called the DAA a “first-of-its-kind” tool.



“This new offering represents the firm’s continued commitment to evolving and broadening its digital assets offerings amidst steadily growing demand for digital assets across investor segments,” Gray said in a statement.&nbsp;



Fidelity has seen growing interest from employers in providing their employees access to digital assets in defined contribution plans, a Fidelity spokesperson told Blockworks.



The DAA is a custom plan account that holds bitcoin and short-term money market investments to provide enough liquidity for daily transactions on behalf of the investor, the representative added.



It enables employees to gain exposure to bitcoin by purchasing units of an account as part of their investment strategy, versus a direct purchase of bitcoin. Bitcoin in the DAA will be held on Fidelity Digital Assets’ custody platform, and the maximum allowable allocation will be 20%.



MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor <a href="https://twitter.com/saylor/status/1518932341418307584" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">revealed on Twitter</a> that his company plans to work with Fidelity to offer its employees the option to invest in bitcoin through their 401(k) portfolios.



Fidelity’s latest decision “cannot be underestimated,” SkyBridge Founder Anthony Scaramucci said in a Twitter post.



“⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/Fidelity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fidelity</a>⁩ is about to do for bitcoin what it did for stocks starting in the 1980s,” the crypto executive tweeted. “⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bitcoin?src=hashtag_click" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bitcoin</a> is a fixed supply and Fidelity’s engine of distribution will swell demand.”



The announcement comes about a month after the US Department of Labor <a href="https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ebsa/ebsa20220310" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published compliance assistance</a> for 401(k) plan fiduciaries considering investments in crypto.



“At this stage of cryptocurrency’s development, fiduciaries must exercise extreme care before including direct investment options in cryptocurrency,” Employee Benefits Security Administration Acting Assistant Secretary Ali Khawar said in a statement at the time.



Fidelity’s new offering is the latest in a string of moves that have further entrenched the business in the crypto space.



The company began bitcoin mining in 2014 and launched Fidelity Digital Assets — a platform offering crypto custody and trade execution to institutional investors — in 2018. Fidelity launched a private bitcoin fund for accredited investors in 2020 and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/fidelity-launches-metaverse-experience-in-tandem-with-new-etfs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">more recently unveiled</a> a metaverse experience and two crypto-related ETFs.



Fidelity estimates that roughly 80 million US individual investors currently own or have invested in digital currencies. According to the Fidelity Digital Assets 2021 Institutional Investor Digital Assets Study, 30% of surveyed institutional investors in the US would prefer to buy an investment product containing digital assets.&nbsp;



Christine Sandler, Fidelity Digital Assets’ head of sales and marketing, said <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/fidelity-exec-fairly-long-tail-of-institutions-driving-mainstream-crypto-adoption/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">during a February webinar</a> that the company has seen increased digital asset adoption from family offices, registered investment advisers (RIAs) and corporations. She noted at the time that “there’s still a fairly long tail of folks that are just beginning to get started in this space.”



“Increasingly, we are seeing interest from leading employers to add digital assets to their 401(k) plan,” Chris Call, executive vice president of retirement services at consulting firm Newfront, said in a statement. “As companies consider alternative investment options in their plan design, we believe digital assets are worthy of consideration.”



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Fidelity Delves Deeper Into Crypto by Allowing Bitcoin in 401(k)s

<div id="highlights-block_6238d2ef7fed8" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>AEX reported its user base is growing in Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, the United States and Canada</li>
 <li>A recent survey by consumer insights provider Toluna found that the most receptive countries to cryptocurrency were Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand and India</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



A digital asset platform has earmarked $100 million to develop the blockchain industry in Vietnam as the country’s residents have displayed a marked interest in cryptocurrencies.



The platform, AEX, plans to offer crypto financial derivatives in Vietnam, open an office and support the country’s blockchain ecosystem with the $100 million fund.



AEX Chief Brand Officer Shergina Asya said in a statement Monday that Southeast Asia is critical to the company’s further global expansion, and Vietnam is a key country within the region.



The company, founded in 2013, supports more than 300 tokens and has more than a million users.



The first $100 million will support local projects focused on the space. The company’s plans include providing high-quality decentralized finance (DeFi) projects with liquidity incentives and making crypto-financial firms compliant with regulations.



AEX also plans to launch the Vietnamese Blockchain Technology Competition and Hackathon in the second half of the year.



A spokesperson for the company did not immediately return a request for comment.



Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance established a research group last year, and the country’s prime minister later <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/philippines-and-vietnam-are-considering-crypto-friendly-regulations/articleshow/84141407.cms" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">called on the country’s central bank</a> to start working on a crypto pilot.



A recently published survey by consumer insights provider <a href="https://tolunacorporate.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Toluna</a> found people in developing countries have a more positive opinion of cryptocurrency than people living in richer, developed countries. The report interviewed 9,000 people between the ages of 18 and 64 years from 17 countries.



The positive attitudes were especially true in the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America, according to the survey, which noted that the most receptive countries to crypto were India, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand.



Forty-one percent of people in Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand said they invested in crypto because of its potential for short-term growth.



AEX launched its globalization strategy last June and <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aex-is-advancing-globally-with-a-multi-dimensional-ecological-strategy-301437481.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">noted in December</a> that its user base was growing in Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, the United States and Canada.



The latest announcement comes as crypto exchanges are setting up shop across the globe.&nbsp;



FTX partnered with Africa-based AZA Finance to expand the adoption of Web3 and digital currencies across the continent. The exchange more recently <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ftx-launches-crypto-exchange-services-in-australia/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">launched FTX Australia</a>.



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/binance-granted-license-to-operate-in-dubai/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Binance</a> and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ftx-granted-crypto-license-with-dubai-hq-in-sights/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FTX</a> were also recently granted virtual asset licenses in Dubai after the emirate <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/dubai-is-the-latest-government-to-roll-out-crypto-law-set-up-regulator/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">revealed its first cryptocurrency legislation</a> earlier this month.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

New $100M Fund Aims To Bolster Blockchain Development in Vietnam

Aaron Ahmadi

<div id="highlights-block_61ddc7f9edcd5" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Traditional ETFs fail crypto markets with inefficiency. ETFs have an expiration, and thus funds must “roll” into a new ETF if the investor isn’t ready to withdraw, which can incur average fees of 13% annually, if maintained for a year.</li>
 <li>It&#8217;s a community-based investing model that mitigates risk and solves the TradFi-induced problems with traditional crypto ETFs.</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Some would say it’s only a matter of time before the entire financial industry is decentralized. With new crypto ETFs coming out frequently, it would seem that ETFs are doing perfectly fine, offering risk-managed exposure to alternative assets. However, I sat down with the team building <a href="https://d-etf.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">D-ETF</a>, and they feel differently.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The Problem With ETFs</h3>



Ask a DeFi (decentralized finance) enthusiast what their vision for the space is, and chances are they’ll suggest everything will one day be decentralized. But as TradFi organizations attempt to integrate digital and decentralized assets, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the two paradigms don’t always blend well.



Trying to use a traditional ETF to capture crypto price movements is a great example of this.



According to the D-ETF team, “Most of the approved ETFs are futures based, meaning the ETF issuer is not actually holding the simulated asset. So these products are in theory not adding value to the crypto industry as a whole. Furthermore, we see an issue regarding trading hours in general, especially on crypto products; most news happens outside of trading hours, making investors potentially vulnerable to drastic changes while markets are closed.”



Beyond logistical and ideological incompatibility, traditional ETFs fail crypto markets with inefficiency. With futures-based ETFs, funds must “roll” into a new ETF when the futures expire if the investor isn’t ready to withdraw, which can incur average fees of 13% annually, if maintained for a year.



To top it off, crypto ETFs face numerous roadblocks, including excessive regulation, high minimums and expensive and inefficient KYC.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Decentralized ETFs</h3>



The team at D-ETF proposes to solve these issues by decentralizing ETFs. The project uses a DAO to invest in a range of cryptocurrencies and offers users the ability to invest in a single token. By holding the D-ETF DAO (<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-daos/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">decentralized autonomous organization</a>) token, investors gain both diversified crypto exposure as well as the ability to vote on which currencies make up the DAO’s portfolio.



It’s a community-based investing model that mitigates risk and solves the TradFi (traditional finance) problems with traditional crypto ETFs.



DAOs are changing the way the world organizes, and the finance industry can profit from these changes, too. When asked whether a DAO was necessary for a decentralized crypto ETF, the D-ETF team said, “In the traditional world, you might have one or just a few people making decisions on behalf of all the investors. With a DAO, you can include the investors in the direction of the fund. Investors, both retail and institutional, gain much more autonomy and influence in their investment decisions.”



Keep in mind that having a DAO only benefits a protocol when that DAO is truly autonomous. Unlike some DAOs in the space, the D-ETF DAO smart contract automatically executes the results of community votes, ensuring both transparency and efficiency.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Come One, Come All</h2>



Another key difference between traditional ETFs and a decentralized crypto ETF is ease of use. With D-ETF, all a potential user needs is a MetaMask wallet and an internet connection. In the near future, TradFi onramp processes will also be released.&nbsp;



Barriers to entry are low, according to the team: 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“D-ETF is making it more convenient for crypto investors to get a wide exposure with less effort and lower costs. With transaction fees across DEXs sometimes as high as 100-800 USD per token swap and slippage decreasing the value of your investment, a relatively high investment is required for a trade to be worthwhile.&nbsp;When buying the D-ETF, on the other hand, you pay a gas fee once and get exposure to 10-20 different tokens.”</blockquote>



Investing is a very personal decision that requires entire communities to transform markets. As old centralized paradigms shift to new decentralized ones, markets are likely to see more personal influence over investing processes. Paradigms change, but risk is ever-present. Participate with caution, whether in DeFi or TradFi.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



This article was sponsored by <a href="https://d-etf.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">D-ETF</a>. To learn more about D-ETF, <a href="https://medium.com/@detf_official/d-etf-whitepaper-40d327d9659a" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">explore their whitepaper</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/detf_official" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">follow them</a> on Twitter. They are holding a limited community sale this month, which you can <a href="https://d-etf.com/buy-d-etf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">learn more about here</a>.



The content of this webpage is not investment advice and does not constitute any offer or solicitation to offer or recommendation of any company, product or idea. It is for advertising purposes only and does not take into account individual needs, investment objectives or specific financial circumstances.

The ETF Market Is Broken. Can Decentralization Fix It?

Sebastian Sinclair

<div id="highlights-block_61f7623b07be0" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Binance has restricted 281 Nigerian-based personal accounts</li>
 <li>Of those, around a third have been restricted at the request of international law enforcement.</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Binance, the world&#8217;s largest crypto exchange by trade volume, has restricted 281 personal Nigerian accounts with more than a third being at the behest of law enforcement.



In a <a href="https://www.binance.com/en-NG/blog/all/a-letter-from-our-ceo-to-nigerians--our-commitment-to-user-protection-421499824684903365" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">letter</a> on Saturday, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said user security remained Binance&#8217;s &#8220;top priority&#8221; before citing that anti-money laundering measures and account restrictions were in place.



Around 79 other cases that were facing restrictions have been resolved while all non-law enforcement-related cases are expected to be resolved within two weeks. More Binance personnel are being deployed to expedite the matter CZ said. 



Of the 281 accounts, 38% have been restricted at the request of international law enforcement, the letter said.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/boycottbinance?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#boycottbinance</a> Binance is locking NIGERIAN accounts using P2P and related services. They locked plenty accounts already in Nigeria. My 5btc locked in binance. Use binance at ur own risk.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/boycottbinance?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#boycottbinance</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BinanceStopScamming?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BinanceStopScamming</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BINANCESTOPSCAMMINGNIGERIANS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BINANCESTOPSCAMMINGNIGERIANS</a>&mdash; hoseaolu (@honetnetworks) <a href="https://twitter.com/honetnetworks/status/1487381321097830400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Last week, users began complaining of issues on <a href="https://twitter.com/Sir_Dubem/status/1486281036812140552?s=20&amp;t=O2nCMRLRqxjEZfy9JszY0w" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter</a> revolving around Nigerian-based Binance accounts. #Binancestopscammingnigerians was seen trending before CZ responded with the letter.



In February of last year, Binance briefly suspended deposits in Nigerian naira following orders from the country central bank for local banks to close accounts linked to various cryptocurrency platforms.



Crypto is seen by many in the 190 million-strong population of Nigeria as a means to circumvent monetary controls and to serve the underbanked or unbanked. Crypto exchanges have, for quite a while, offered up a means to transact peer-to-peer at a time when more than half in the country are <a href="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/sites/globalfindex/files/chapters/2017%20Findex%20full%20report_chapter2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">unbanked</a>.







<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Binance Restricts 281 Nigerian Accounts Citing Safety Measure

Casey Wagner

<div id="highlights-block_61f446a60ea7d" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>An Arizona legislator is hoping to make bitcoin a transactional currency in the state</li>
 <li>Federal law makes it difficult for states to legalize currencies other than the dollar </li>
 </ul>
 
</div>





A state senator in Arizona has introduced a bill that would make bitcoin legal tender in the state — although federal law could complicate things.&nbsp;



Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers (R., District 6) introduced the <a href="https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/55leg/2R/bills/SB1341P.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bill</a>, which seeks to add a statute to Arizona law making bitcoin a legal currency, on Tuesday. There was a second reading on the senate floor Wednesday. If and when a vote might take place has not yet been disclosed.&nbsp;



The US Constitution might make passing the bill a challenge, though, cryptocurrency law experts say.&nbsp;



“The Coinage Clause of the Constitution means that the power to determine what is and isn’t legal tender in the United States is the exclusive province of Congress,” said Preston Byrne, partner at law firm Anderson Kill. “If enacted, [the bill] would be largely symbolic.”&nbsp;



In the 1800s, states tried to work around the Coinage Clause by issuing their own “state bank notes,” but they had little success. In the National Bank Acts of 1865 and 1866, Congress effectively put an end to the practice by placing a 10% tax on payments made in currency other than national bank notes.&nbsp;



“Aside from the legality though, it begs the question of whether digital assets are actually ‘currencies’ or forms of ‘money,’” said Steve Gannon, attorney at Murphy and McGonigle. “In addition, for what purposes would Arizona be accepting digital assets as ‘legal tender?’ If it is simply another method of payment with respect to state contracts, that may be a limited use case that is worth an experiment.”&nbsp;



Even if the bill becomes law in Arizona, it’s unlikely to have much impact on usage of bitcoin in the state, Byrne said.&nbsp;



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Arizona could certainly pass a law like this and the state government could choose to accept bitcoin as payment for Arizona taxes, but this would not change the legal treatment of Bitcoin as property from a federal tax perspective,” said Byrne. </blockquote>



“I also don’t think such a law could obligate Arizonans to accept bitcoin in a constitutionally acceptable way.”&nbsp;



The introduction of the bill follows Rogers’ promise to make Arizona a crypto-friendly state. In September 2021, she was appointed to the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Study Committee, she announced on <a href="https://twitter.com/WendyRogersAZ/status/1436386764399292417?s=20&amp;t=GnHKvC7Ny56Q4Gg5wo-cpw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter</a>.&nbsp;



The committee consists of members from the Arizona state House and Senate as well as digital asset industry members and advocates. The group seeks to “review data on the scope of blockchain and cryptocurrency throughout the country” and determine how the technology can play into Arizona’s existing financial infrastructure, according to government <a href="https://www.azleg.gov/icommittee/Blockchain%20and%20Cryptocurrency%20Study%20Committee.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">documents</a>.&nbsp;



Senator Rogers’ office did not immediately respond to Blockworks’ request for comment.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Arizona Considers Making Bitcoin Legal Tender

Liz Coyne

Blockworks&#8217; <a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvER9nHSRN3wZX2tI3JrCLOAzMBgUJtBo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Forward Guidance</a> podcast host Jack Farley sat down with Chris Harmse, managing director of BVNK, at Blockworks&#8217; <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/das-london/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Digital Asset Summit in London</a> to talk about generating yield in crypto and DeFi.



Harmse has a decade’s experience in analyzing and trading financial markets to identify investment and commercial opportunities across multiple asset classes for corporate and private clients. 



In that time, he has held trading, analyst and fund management roles with BNP Paribas, Centaur Asset Management, Excelsia Capital and Asymmetry Asset Management. Harmse began his career as an equity trader at Renaissance Capital, before joining the buy-side team of Rezco Asset Management, where he focused on preserving clients’ capital while creating wealth.



As an equity analyst Harmse has focused on deep analytical research, equity valuation, and financial modeling. His experience as a buy-side equity analyst highlighted how digital asset infrastructure can be applied to reduce the inefficiencies of traditional financial services and improve on incumbent business models.



Watch the full interview below.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="BVNK Managing Director on Generating Yield in Crypto, DeFi" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DJbDvNNehz8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your inbox every evening.&nbsp;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/newsletter/?source=end" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter</a>&nbsp;now.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>

BVNK Managing Director on Generating Yield in Crypto, DeFi

Blockworks&#8217; <a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvER9nHSRN3wZX2tI3JrCLOAzMBgUJtBo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Forward Guidance</a> podcast host Jack Farley sat down with Chris Tyrer, head of Fidelity Digital Assets Europe, at Blockworks <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/das-london/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Digital Asset Summit in London</a> to discuss the role digital assets play in investment strategies today and in the future. 



Tyrer leads all client service activity for the region, addressing their needs to secure, trade, and support digital assets. Prior to joining Fidelity Digital Assets, he served as a managing director at Barclays Investment Bank, leading its digital assets project, which examined the market opportunities for the firm. He also served as global head of commodities trading for Barclays following a long career in traditional financial markets.



Watch the full interview below.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Bitcoin&#039;s Growing Role In Portfolios | Fidelity Digital Assets&#039; Chris Tyrer" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MYzEakD3BqE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your inbox every evening.&nbsp;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/newsletter/?source=end" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter</a>&nbsp;now.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>

Fidelity Digital Assets Europe Head: Bitcoin Will Play Prominent Role in Investment Portfolios

<div id="highlights-block_614a5283dc18b" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The fund, focused on interoperable scalability solutions, DeFi and NFTs, looks to be a “strategic partner” for global blockchain company founders</li>
 <li>Templum co-founder Vincent Molinari and Daniel Novy, a former ConsenSys colleague of Gupta, support the fund</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



The former founding managing partner of ConsenSys Ventures has revealed a fund she created that will invest in companies and tokens across the blockchain space, including DeFi and NFTs.&nbsp;



The Delta Blockchain Fund aims to be a “strategic partner” for entrepreneurs early in their journey to scale their businesses, Kavita Gupta told Blockworks in an interview.



The fund, which is set to invest in equity and tokens, will be looking at interoperable scalability solutions, such as <a href="https://www.nahmii.io">Nahmii</a>, which Gupta noted is focused on decentralized finance as well as going interchain with scalability solutions.



“Decentralized identity, computation and storage are the three really big targets for me, and of course DeFi and NFTs and the institutional adoption of both,” she said. “It’s not a DeFi fund or this fund or that fund. We are looking at anything and everything we find on blockchain, but these are five or six sectors that I’m super excited about.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Building the fund</h3>



Gupta worked at blockchain software technology company <a href="https://consensys.net">ConsenSys</a> from 2017 to 2019 and later became a visiting scholar and lecturer at Stanford University. She has spent the last couple years doing growth-stage special purpose vehicles, or SPV, deals, as well as angel investing.



“Finally, this year I was getting more and more interested in going back to the early-stage investments,” she said.&nbsp;



Gupta is launching the fund with <a href="https://www.templuminc.com">Templum</a> co-founder Vincent Molinari and Daniel Novy, a fellow former ConsenSys employee who had previously founded an exchange in Brazil called Basebit.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“One of the reasons I really wanted Vince on board is I do see there are very, very few early-stage investment funds who can provide a deep regulatory experience of DeFi builders and NFT builders,” Gupta explained.&nbsp;



Gupta added that Novy brings a technical diligence perspective as venture partner of the fund. Novy took a sabbatical from ConsenSys in 2019 but never went back, he said in a Twitter post Tuesday. For the last two years he has been making angel investments in Brazil.



“So, when [Kavita] invited me to help her on a new venture … that was a no-brainer,” he tweeted. “First because of who she is and second because that’s something I found out I love doing.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Who’s invested?</h3>



Gupta had planned for a $10 million initial raise for the Delta Blockchain Fund, which she expected to grow to $50 million. But the initial raise was oversubscribed to $30 million, and she now expects the fund to reach $100 million.



Investors in Gupta’s fund include Polygon Co-founder and COO Sandeep Nailwal, Richard Ma, co-founder and CEO of Quantstamp, and Samyak Jain, co-founder and CTO of InstaDApp. These executives and others, from countries across the world, are acting as advisers to the fund, she added.



“There is so much money in the space, I just didn’t want money,” Gupta said. “What I really wanted was how strategically I have LPs who come with the potential to really build these companies … and also give them global access.”



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="437" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-21-at-4.42.08-PM-1024x437.png" alt="Kavita Gupta fund tweet" class="wp-image-8382" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-21-at-4.42.08-PM-1024x437.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-21-at-4.42.08-PM-1024x437.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-21-at-4.42.08-PM-1024x437.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-21-at-4.42.08-PM-1024x437.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-21-at-4.42.08-PM-1024x437.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-21-at-4.42.08-PM-1024x437.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-21-at-4.42.08-PM-1024x437.png?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-21-at-4.42.08-PM-1024x437.png?w=1194 1194w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></div>



The new fund comes as an all-time high of $17 billion had been invested into crypto projects in 2021, as of mid-June. Venture capital firm <a href="https://a16z.com/about/">Andreessen Horowitz</a> announced a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/andreessen-horowitz-launches-2-2b-crypto-fund/">$2.2 billion crypto fund</a> that month, and more recently, private equity firm <a href="https://10tfund.com/">10T Holdings</a> has raised $750 million for its <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/10t-holdings-raises-750m-for-first-growth-equity-funds/">first two growth equity funds</a> focused on digital asset companies.



Franklin Templeton, a $1.5 trillion asset manager, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/franklin-templeton-prepping-blockchain-fund/">has so far raised $10 million</a> for a blockchain fund, according to <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1882656/000188265621000001/xslFormDX01/primary_doc.xml">a regulatory filing</a> filed last week.



But Gupta noted that her track record in the blockchain ecosystem, such as being an investor in BlockFi, as well her team and investors, differentiates the Delta Blockchain Fund from others.



“We are bringing people together, with upcoming founders and people who have been through this ecosystem for very long, have built multi-billion-dollar companies and understand this and can help these founders,” Gupta said. “Most other funds today cannot do that.”



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



Are you a UK or EU reader that can’t get enough investor-focused content on digital assets?<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/das-london/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us</a>&nbsp;in London on November 15th and 16th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) London. Use code ARTICLE for £75 off your ticket.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/das-london/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Buy it now</a>.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>

Former ConsenSys Ventures Managing Partner Launches Blockchain Fund

Morgan Chittum

In the latest episode of Blockworks&#8217; &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS0jB9glznc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Generational Arbitrage</a>,&#8221; host Tyler Neville speaks with Kevin March and David Micley, co-founder and director of sales and client relations at Floating Point Group. 



Kevin and David give their perspective on the developing structure in crypto markets, arbitrage opportunities, generating yield and leaving Bridgewater to work in crypto.



Check out what they had to say in the video below. 👇



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Secular Boom in the New Financial World | Kevin March &amp; David Micley" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AS0jB9glznc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



The social fabric of contemporary American life is tearing itself apart. On &#8220;Generational Arbitrage,&#8221; once a week, Tyler Neville, author of Blockworks&#8217; smash hit <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Daily Newsletter</a>, digs into the institutions whose promises are left unfulfilled. The generational imbalances are vast and very few can speak out against entrenched interests. Let’s find them!



Episodes are released every Friday morning.&nbsp;



Subscribe to Empire today on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/generational-arbitrage/id1571134391" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apple</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1fPKtTSDvg7xzm8FaSljjL?si=1iHi3qpnSiCb34pwgd5hpQ&amp;dl_branch=1&amp;nd=1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Spotify</a>. Watch episodes on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNe4cMKNEU4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">YouTube</a>.

Podcast: Secular Boom in the New Financial World

In the latest episode of Blockworks&#8217; &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEYn9mSwu_s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Generational Arbitrage</a>,&#8221; host Tyler Neville speaks with founder of 21st Paradigm, Dylan LeClair. 



Tyler and Dylan discuss Bitcoin as a long volatility hedge, opportunity cost, the effect of debt on younger generations and the future outlook for bitcoin throughout 2021. 



Check out what they had to say in the video below. 👇



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Bitcoin as a long volatility hedge | Dylan LeClair" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vEYn9mSwu_s?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



The social fabric of contemporary American life is tearing itself apart. On &#8220;Generational Arbitrage,&#8221; once a week, Tyler Neville, author of Blockworks&#8217; smash hit <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Daily Newsletter</a>, digs into the institutions whose promises are left unfulfilled. The generational imbalances are vast and very few can speak out against entrenched interests. Let’s find them!



Episodes are released every Friday morning.&nbsp;



Subscribe to Empire today on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/generational-arbitrage/id1571134391" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apple</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1fPKtTSDvg7xzm8FaSljjL?si=1iHi3qpnSiCb34pwgd5hpQ&amp;dl_branch=1&amp;nd=1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Spotify</a>. Watch episodes on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNe4cMKNEU4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">YouTube</a>.

Podcast: Bitcoin as a Long Volatility Hedge

In the latest episode of Blockworks&#8217; &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lWslC8YM5E" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Generational Arbitrage</a>,&#8221; host Tyler Neville speaks with Dan Rasmussen, Founder and Portfolio Manager of Verdad Capital, and colleague Greg Obenshain, Director of Credit.



They discuss how investors can generate returns in corporate credit markets during a low yield environment. Dan and Greg also talk about the business cycle, fools yield, inflation, crisis investing and private equity.



Check out what they had to say in the video below. 👇



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Investing during a crisis | Dan Rasmussen &amp; Greg Obenshain" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8lWslC8YM5E?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



The social fabric of contemporary American life is tearing itself apart. On &#8220;Generational Arbitrage,&#8221; once a week, Tyler Neville, author of Blockworks&#8217; smash hit <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Daily Newsletter</a>, digs into the institutions whose promises are left unfulfilled. The generational imbalances are vast and very few can speak out against entrenched interests. Let’s find them!



Episodes are released every Friday morning.&nbsp;



Subscribe to Empire today on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/generational-arbitrage/id1571134391" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apple</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1fPKtTSDvg7xzm8FaSljjL?si=1iHi3qpnSiCb34pwgd5hpQ&amp;dl_branch=1&amp;nd=1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Spotify</a>. Watch episodes on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNe4cMKNEU4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">YouTube</a>.