As the market matures and lures more traditional finance professionals, investors like John Mack see a gap in accessibility. Mack is putting money down in what he believes to be the right places - expect ICO later this year.
Ventures and crypto
John Mack, once served as Chief Executive Officer for Morgan Stanley is now setting his crosshairs on digital currency. The banker claims to have been investing in digital currencies for years. John points out in an email statement:
“I have been watching and investing in the cryptocurrency market over the last several years... We think Omega One is going to be transformative because it benefits the entire ecosystem - making crypto assets cheaper and easier to access.”
His investments were made via Venture One, a portfolio company in which he is a private backer and his push into making digital currencies more available and attractive to investors will be done through Omega One. At this point, Mack is currently the only investor in the project.
Brokers and tokens
Alex Gordon-Brander explains:
“We’re the bridge between traditional capital markets and the crypto markets… will provide everything from balance sheet intermediation and a trusted counterparty.”
He adds: “We’re seeing the very first signs of institutional adoption of crypto markets.”
The introduction of the brokerage aimed at investors might be timed well as the digital currency market has matured much over the past 18 months.
There is clearly strong interest from institutional investors, but also some lack of information about how to go about acquiring digital assets in forms of cryptocurrency.
From how to correctly report profits to the IRS, to how best to store them safely.
Regulation and education seem to be the stumbling blocks at this point in time and with professionals experienced in trading securities, assets and investment vehicles- the knowledge they bring might very well prove beneficial to acknowledging cryptocurrency markets as a whole.
Gordon-Brander indicates that clients will have to hold tokens native to the system and plan to do an ICO somewhere between August and December this year.
The rapid increase in cryptocurrency popularity, along with the burgeoning market for ICOs and other Blockchain technology has lead to some surprising new tech being released onto the market. The most recent of such releases is a wristband that allows users to pay for drinks, food at bars and other restaurants and festivals using their Dash holdings.
The tech, called Festy, is the brainchild of Irish tech firm Bitcart and will be the first of its kind on the market. It utilizes a QR code with a Blockchain infrastructure that takes advantage of Dash’s InstantSend technology, making payments nearly immediate, but with much lower fees than legacy credit cards. CEO Graham de Barra said, “Our partnership with Dash makes the perfect payment solution for everyday transactions. Unlike existing traditional bank payments that take a two to five percent fee, there is no cost on receiving Dash for merchants.”
The concept is new in the cryptocurrency world, as companies seek to find ways to capitalize on the sudden surge of public interest in decentralized currencies and Blockchain technology. The clear advantages of Blockchain in terms of security and payment verification have prompted the rise in interest as well.