Pompliano: Wall Street Going All-In on Crypto

According to Pompliano, most institutions are intentionally choosing not to disclose their involvement with digital currencies. In a tweet addressed to his 185,000 followers, he stated:

Don’t listen to what Wall Street banks say in the press.

Every single one of them is building, buying, or investing in crypto right now. They can’t afford to miss out on this.

Don’t fall for the distractions. Just watch what they do.

— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) January 30, 2019

In April 2018, Pompliano co-founded Morgan Creek Digital Assets, a multi-strategy investment firm specializing in distributed ledger technology and virtual currencies. He also authors a daily email newsletter, in which he talks about developments in the blockchain and digital currency ecosystems. As a result, Pompliano is uniquely positioned to comment on what institutional investors are and aren’t doing with respect to the cryptocurrency industry.

Institutional Interest Ramping Up?

Notably, Pompliano is not the only one claiming that institutional interest in the digital currency market is starting to gain momentum. In spite of the market’s exceptionally poor performance throughout 2018, crypto hedge funds, security token offerings (STOs) and over the counter (OTC) sales have flourished. Since these investments do not represent a spike in traditional trading volume charts, the activity has mostly gone unnoticed. Major cryptocurrency exchanges have also been preparing and bracing themselves for increased demand from institutional investors. Coinbase, for instance, managed to raise a whopping $300 million in its Series E venture capital funding round last October. The company said that it would use the cash infusion to attract accredited US investors more aggressively. In May 2018, it estimated that institutions could bring in as much as $10 billion to the cryptocurrency industry.

Bakkt & The Road Ahead

Meanwhile, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is expected to launch its digital currency platform, dubbed Bakkt, sometime in 2019. Founded by the owners of the New York Stock Exchange, ICE also aims to attract major institutional players to the blockchain and cryptocurrency markets. When it launches later this year, Bakkt is expected to be the biggest Bitcoin physical futures exchange and clearing exchange in the US. So far, a few merchants, including big-name companies such as Starbucks, have already pledged to work with Bakkt. Do you agree with Pompliano’s belief that large amounts of institutional money flow into the cryptocurrency market every day? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!