digital asset management

German Dwpbank to offer Bitcoin trading to 1,200 affiliate banks on new platform

Securities processor Deutsche WertpapierService Bank will provide its affiliates with seamless integration with their current offerings, with more digital assets to come.

Deutsche WertpapierService Bank (Dwpbank), which offers securities processing to around 1,200 banks in Germany, is creating a new platform, wpNex, that will offer Bitcoin (BTC) to all of its affiliates’ retail customers in the second half of this year.

The new service will feature crypto accounts alongside bank customers’ other accounts and will not require additional Know Your Customer procedures, according to local media reports.

Wallet-as-a-service provider Tangany and Bankhaus Scheich’s Tradias digital asset trading service will also participate in the new offering. Retail customers will not hold private keys. Dwpbank CEO Heiko Beck said the bank planned to add other cryptocurrencies, digital assets and tokenized securities to the service in the future.

MLB Banking was the first Dwpbank affiliate to sign on to the platform and has already performed a transaction on it. MLP Banking’s account and securities processing head, Paul Utzat, said in a statement:

“In our MLP customer portal, it is a logical addition to the existing wealth management offering.”

Crypto accounts are linked to euro cash accounts, so transactions can take place without going through a separate payments account.

Germany has been named one of the world’s most favorable countries for crypto. DZ Bank announced in February that it was adding crypto to its asset management service. DZ Bank is Germany’s second-largest bank by assets and a central institution for a network of bank coops with 8,500 branch offices.

Great news for #BTC adoption and access in

Through its new wpNex platform, the dwpbank will allow up to 1200 German banks to offer #Bitcoin trading – and soon more crypto-assets.

The crypto holdings will be integrated into the customers’s online banking securities account.

— Patrick Hansen (@paddi_hansen) March 24, 2023

German crypto bank Nuri, however, shut down in November under stress of the crypto bear market. It had half a million customers. On the traditional finance side, Deutsche Bank shares plummeted on March 24 as instability spread among European banks. Deutsche Bank asset management division DWS was reportedly in talks with tradias on investment in the service.

Magazine: Best and worst countries for crypto taxes — plus crypto tax tips

Coinbase announces acquisition of One River Digital Asset Management

As part of the acquisition, Coinbase said One River Digital’s team would join the exchange and CEO Eric Peters would stay to lead the firm under the name Coinbase Asset Management.

United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has acquired cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund One River Digital Asset Management, or ORDAM.

In a March 3 blog post, Coinbase said One River Digital will transition to become Coinbase Asset Management, “an independent business and wholly-owned subsidiary” of the crypto exchange. One River Digital is registered as an investment adviser under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and has previously accepted investments from Coinbase to scale its operations.

“Coinbase and ORDAM share an ethos grounded in prudent risk management, a trait which has enabled both firms to successfully navigate the recent market turmoil,” said Coinbase. “Culturally, our two organizations are strongly aligned on pursuing the opportunity in digital assets with an uncompromising priority on safety and soundness.”

As part of the acquisition, Coinbase said One River Digital’s team would join the crypto exchange and that Peters would stay on as leader under the rebranded firm. The exchange suggested “minimal disruption to current business activities” amid the transition.

News of the acquisition followed Coinbase leading the charge in a slew of crypto firms cutting ties with Silvergate amid reports the bank was under investigation from the U.S. Department of Justice over its alleged involvement in the collapse of FTX. The crypto exchange has already announced Signature Bank will take over institutional client cash transactions for its prime customers.

Celsius’ co-founder Daniel Leon follows Mashinsky out as crypto exec flight continues

Leon is at least the eighth crypto sector executive who has resigned in recent months; Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky resigned a week ago.

S. Daniel Leon, who cofounded Celsius with Alex Mashinsky in 2017, has quit his job as the bankrupt crypto lender’s chief strategy officer, CNBC reported Oct. 4, citing unnamed sources and an internal memo seen by the outlet. Bloomberg later reported receiving confirmation of Leon’s resignation from the company. Leon’s resignation comes one week after Mashinsky’s and is part of an apparently growing trend.

Celsius filed for bankruptcy July 13, while it was under investigation by six American states and a month after freezing withdrawals. The company was reportedly $1.9 billion in debt at the time of its bankruptcy declaration. Mashinsky resigned Sept. 27, saying in a statement, “I regret that my continued role as CEO has become an increasing distraction, and I am very sorry about the difficult financial circumstances members of our community are facing.” His financial dealings and handling of the firm’s final days of solvency were the subjects of intense scrutiny.

Leon filed in U.S. bankruptcy court to have his 32,600 common shares of the company declared worthless on Sept. 5. Bids on Celsius assets will be accepted through Oct. 17, with an auction set for Oct. 20, if necessary. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was reportedly among the interested bidders.

Leon has joined a steady stream of executives departing from the crypto sector as the crypto winter stretches on. Some execs, such as former MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell, FTX US president Brett Harrison and Genesis CEO Michael Moro and managing director Matthew Ballensweig moved into less visible advisory roles. Others, such as former Alameda Research co-CEO Sam Trabucco, Ignite CEO Peng Zhong and bankrupt Voyager Digital’s chief financial officer Ashwin Prithipaul have changed direction entirely.

All of those leaders have left their positions since July.

Celsius co-founder Daniel Leon follows Mashinsky out as crypto exec flight continues

Leon is at least the eighth crypto sector executive who has resigned in recent months, with Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky resigning a week ago.

S. Daniel Leon, who cofounded Celsius with Alex Mashinsky in 2017, has quit his job as the bankrupt crypto lender’s chief strategy officer, CNBC reported Oct. 4, citing unnamed sources and an internal memo seen by the outlet. Bloomberg later reported receiving confirmation of Leon’s resignation from the company. His resignation comes one week after Mashinsky’s and is part of an apparently growing trend.

Celsius filed for bankruptcy on July 13 while it was under investigation by six American states and a month after freezing withdrawals. The company was reportedly $1.9 billion in debt at the time of its bankruptcy declaration. Mashinsky resigned on Sept. 27, saying in a statement, “I regret that my continued role as CEO has become an increasing distraction, and I am very sorry about the difficult financial circumstances members of our community are facing.” His financial dealings and handling of the firm’s final days of solvency were the subjects of intense scrutiny.

Leon has joined a steady stream of executives departing from the crypto sector as the crypto winter stretches on. Some execs, such as former MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell, FTX US president Brett Harrison and Genesis CEO Michael Moro and managing director Matthew Ballensweig moved into less visible advisory roles. Others, such as former Alameda Research co-CEO Sam Trabucco, Ignite CEO Peng Zhong and bankrupt Voyager Digital’s chief financial officer, Ashwin Prithipaul, have changed direction entirely.

All of those leaders have left their positions since July.

Stone Ridge board approved plan for ‘liquidation and dissolution’ of its Bitcoin fund

“Effective after the close of business on October 3, 2022, the Fund’s shares will generally no longer be available for purchase,” said a Stone Ridge filing with the SEC.

Stone Ridge Asset Management, whose holding company is behind the New York Digital Investment Group, has filed notice with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission that it will liquidate its Bitcoin Strategy Fund.

In a Monday SEC filing, the asset manager said the Stone Ridge Trust board of trustees approved a Friday plan to liquidate and dissolve its Stone Ridge Bitcoin Strategy Fund, first filed with the SEC in July 2021. According to the plan, the asset management firm will continue to operate the fund through Oct. 3, after which time it will “reduce the fund to cash” in preparation for liquidation and distribution to shareholders.

“The liquidation of the Fund is expected to take place on or about October 21, 2022,” said the filing. “Effective after the close of business on October 3, 2022, the Fund’s shares will generally no longer be available for purchase.”

According to its July 2021 prospectus, the Bitcoin (BTC) strategy fund aimed to offer exposure to the cryptocurrency via futures markets, as the SEC has not approved spot investment vehicles linked to BTC. The asset manager said at the time the objective of the fund was “capital appreciation.”

Data from Yahoo Finance showed the fund held roughly $2.8 million in net assets at the time of publication. A Stone Ridge semi-annual report from April 2022 said more than half — 50.5% — of the funds were allocated to foreign government agency bonds and the fund had more than $10.9 million in total net assets.

In October 2020, Stone Ridge purchased 10,000 BTC through the NYDIG as part of a post-pandemic investment strategy, making it one of the largest BTC holders among private companies. At the time of publication, the price of Bitcoin was $22,230, hitting a three-week high on Monday.

SBF and the Mooch tie the knot as FTX Ventures takes 30% stake of SkyBridge Capital

Scaramucci calls Bankman-Fried part of the “small universe of outside investors SkyBridge would ever consider partnering with,” promises SkyBridge’s investment strategy will not change.

FTX Ventures, an arm of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto exchange, will acquire a 30% stake in alternative asset manager SkyBridge Capital, the firms announced Sept. 9. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but SkyBridge will use $40 million of the proceeds to purchase cryptocurrencies to hold as a long-term investment, according to a statement.

SkyBridge founder and managing partner Anthony Scaramucci said about the deal on Twitter, “There’s a small universe of outside investors SkyBridge would ever consider partnering with, and @SBF_FTX is one of them.” He added separately, “This won’t significantly impact our day-to-day business and doesn’t change our strategy. […] We will remain a diversified asset firm, while investing heavily in blockchain.” SkyBridge managed about $2.5 billion, including over $800 million in digital assets, as of June 30, according to its website.

There’s a small universe of outside investors SkyBridge would ever consider partnering with, and @SBF_FTX is one of them. Sam is the real deal, and, in my opinion, is building @FTX_Official into the Amazon of financial services. He even has me dressing like a millennial. pic.twitter.com/yO9N6u24Rz

— Scaramucci.algo (@Scaramucci) September 9, 2022

The two firms collaborated on the SALT (SkyBridge Alternatives) Conferences and the Crypto Bahamas conference for the past year. Bankman-Fried told CNBC:

“We’ve gotten to know the team over the last year. […] We’ve been really excited about what they’ve been doing […] from the investment angle, growing out the community — the digital assets community and the traditional asset community — bringing them together.”

SkyBridge began investing in Bitcoin (BTC) in 2020 and Scaramucci has become a vocal proponent of crypto since then. The firm has been relatively untouched by the meltdown of the crypto market, although it announced the suspension of withdrawals from its crypto-exposed Legion Strategies fund in July.

Bankman-Fried’s firms have entered into a flurry of acquisition activity since the crypto winter began. Bankman-Fried bought a 7.6% share in online brokerage Robinhood in May. FTX US extended a $400 million revolving credit to BlockFi, and FTX offered to buy out some of the debts of bankrupt Voyager Digital in July. It has also made inroads into traditional finance.

VTB sealed the first deal with digital financial assets in Russia

VTB Factoring acquires a tokenized debt pool of industrial companies via the Lighthouse blockchain.

VTB Factoring, a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned bank, reported the first major deal with digital finance assets. As part of the deal, the bank subsidiary acquired a tokenized debt pool of the engineering company Metrowagonmash, issued via the fintech platform Lighthouse.

On Wednesday, June 29, VTB reported the deal on its webpage, claiming it to be the first issuance and placement of digital financial assets secured by cash in the Russian Federation. In the announcement, the bank compares it with the issue of short-term commercial bonds.

Anton Musatov, CEO at VTB Factoring, emphasized the new technology’s potential regarding the access of Russian businesses to the funds necessary for operational activities:

“Apart from the standard factoring procedure, [here] a client shouldn’t necessarily sign a service contract to sell its debt pool. The issuer’s readiness to tokenize it and the factoring bank’s decision to acquire it.”

In June 2022, the largest Russian bank Sber announced its first operation with the digital financial assets (DFA) to take place in mid-July, after finally obtaining a license from the country’s central bank.

While current legislation on the DFA was put in force in 2020, the head of the Financial Markets Committee of the Russian parliament’s lower chamber introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of DFA as a “monetary surrogate” in June 2022.

In February 2022, VTB conducted the first successful testing of the operation with “digital rubles,” a central bank digital currency (CBDC) project of the Bank of Russia. Later, the bank announced its first purchase of DFAs in exchange for the digital ruble. At press time, there is no information on whether the aforementioned deal was made via CBDC.