Jul 30, 2021, 04:10am EDT | 468,411 views
Billy BambroughSenior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
I write about how bitcoin, crypto and blockchain can change the world.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have seen a violent return to volatility over the last two weeks with the combined crypto market losing then gaining around $300 billion (subscribe now to Forbes’ CryptoAsset & Blockchain Advisor and discover crypto blockbusters poised for 1,000% gains).
The bitcoin price, currently trading comfortably around the psychological $40,000 per bitcoin level, remains significantly down from its peak of almost $65,000 set in April.
Now, amid reports institutional investors are gearing up to reenter the bitcoin and crypto market, a new law in Germany will allow institutional investors that currently manage a staggering 1.8 trillion euros ($2.1 trillion) to invest in bitcoin and crypto for the first time.
Sign up now for CryptoCodex—Join tens of thousands of others who receive the CryptoCodex newsletter every week day. Helping you understand the world of bitcoin and cryptocurrency, arriving in your inbox at 7am EDT
MORE FROM FORBES Crypto Price Prediction: Bitcoin Could Be Left In The Dust By Ethereum In 2021 By Billy Bambroughweek, with bitcoin trading across a $10,000 range. Meanwhile, ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies have also bounced violently.
AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
So-called Spezialfonds, only available to institutional investors such as pension companies and insurers, will be able to invest up to 20% of their holdings in bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies from Monday.
“Most funds will initially stay well below the 20% mark,” Tim Kreutzmann, an expert on crypto-assets at BVI, Germany’s fund industry body, told Bloomberg, which first reported the news. “On the one hand, institutional investors such as insurers have strict regulatory requirements for their investment strategies. And on the other hand, they must also want to invest in crypto.”
Earlier this week, some $2.5 billion in bitcoin moved off crypto exchanges including Coinbase, Kraken and Binance, according to market data provider Glassnode in what was described by CNBC as “a signal that institutional investors are getting off the sidelines.”
Some 63,000 bitcoin were transferred off major exchanges, Glassnode data reportedly showed.
“Trading activity has been higher in the past few days than what we’ve seen recently,” Jeremy Welch, chief product officer at U.S. bitcoin and crypto exchange Kraken, said in comments sent via Twitter DM and predicted “greater participation from regulated entities … If the narrative holds, this could ultimately prove to be highly price-positive for the crypto space.”
CryptoCodex—A free, daily newsletter for the crypto-curious. Helping you understand the world of bitcoin and crypto, every day
MORE FROM FORBES Crypto Price Prediction: Bitcoin ‘To Overtake’ The Dollar By 2050 And Soar To $66,000 By The End Of 2021 By Billy Bambroughsince a huge sell-off through April and May that wiped more than $1 trillion from the combined bitcoin and crypto market and sent ethereum and other tokens into free fall.
Coinbase
The recent bitcoin price rally was kickstarted by reports that online retail giant Amazon plans to roll out bitcoin and crypto support as soon as this year. The company denied the City AM report but said it’s “exploring what [crypto support] could look like on Amazon.”
“Regardless of whether [Amazon adoption] materializes or not, the point is that adoption from institutions and corporations remains one of the market’s driving narratives,” added Welch.
Follow me on
Twitter.I am a journalist with significant experience covering technology, finance, economics, and business around the world. As the founding editor of Verdict.co.uk I reported
… Read MoreI am a journalist with significant experience covering technology, finance, economics, and business around the world. As the founding editor of Verdict.co.uk I reported on how technology is changing business, political trends, and the latest culture and lifestyle. I have covered the rise of bitcoin and cryptocurrency since 2012 and have charted its emergence as a niche technology into the greatest threat to the established financial system the world has ever seen and the most important new technology since the internet itself. I have worked and written for CityAM, the Financial Times, and the New Statesman, amongst others. Follow me on Twitter @billybambrough or email me on billyATbillybambrough.com. Disclosure: I occasionally hold some small amount of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Read Less