Genesis Q3 Insights cryptocurrency

Genesis Lending Platform Sees Significant Increases in Institutional Investments

Oct 19, 2018, 6:25PM
1 min, 55 sec READ

A Q3 Insights report by digital assets service Genesis Capital has revealed that institutional investment in the crypto space has been positive.

Genesis Capital, an affiliate of institutional investment firm Genesis Trading, has released a Q3 Insights Report that reveals that institutional investment in digital assets has grown remarkably since the start of 2018. Genesis Capital is the world's first crypto lending platform for institutional investors. 

The report says that approximately $500 million dollars worth of cryptocurrency has changed hands via the platform since March. Current outstanding loan values stand at roughly $130 million, which Genesis notes have grown despite the market’s stagnation in 2018.

The truly interesting revelations from the report come from the specific tokens that investors chose: Genesis says that the loan book is evenly split between Bitcoin and Ethereum, with Monero in third. 

High Levels of Ethereum Loans

Furthermore, as Ethereum’s price declined in the middle of the year, interest in altcoins like XRP, Litecoin, and Ethereum Classic increased. The report reads,

At launch, lending activity was driven largely by speculative hedge funds...Some of our largest single originations to date were ETH loans in March and May to hedge funds. Over the second half of the year, these hedge funds began covering positions as they realized profits and the short interest in ETH was replaced by other alternative assets...Today, our business is evenly split across these three types of counterparties.

Genesis launched its institutional investment venture on March 1, 2018, serving borrowing and lending services to heavy investors and giving them the options of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Ripple, Zcash, Monero, and others.

Trends Show Bitcoin Still Leading the Market

All of the data in the report points to the fact that investors still consider Bitcoin the safest investment. Even as of the start of Q3, Bitcoin still represented half of their loans. At the time of publishing, Bitcoin also accounts for over half of the cryptocurrency market share.

Several major established institutions, such as Goldman Sachs and, more recently, Bakkt and Fidelity Investments, have announced their foray into the cryptocurrency market. Such institutional investment will bring a great deal of money to the market, which outspoken investors like Mike Novogratz believe will be pivotal to the market’s future growth. 

 

Disclaimer: information contained herein is provided without considering your personal circumstances, therefore should not be construed as financial advice, investment recommendation or an offer of, or solicitation for, any transactions in cryptocurrencies.