<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6361649" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Goldman-Sachs">Goldman Sachs</keyword> on Thursday has started trading with <keyword id="186963" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Non-deliverable-forwards">non-deliverable forwards</keyword>, <a href="https://twitter.com/mattleising/status/1390372719271628800" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg Law</a> reported.</li><li>An NDF will essentially allow investors to speculate on <keyword id="6354947" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bitcoin">bitcoin</keyword>'s future price</li><li>The bank will be hedging with CME futures.</li></ul><p>Goldman Sachs on Thursday began trading non-deliverable forwards, a <keyword id="114747" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Derivative">derivative</keyword> product tied to <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest">bitcoin</a>'s price, <a href="https://twitter.com/mattleising/status/1390372719271628800" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg Law</a> reported.</p><p>An NDF essentially allows investors to speculate on bitcoin's future price. It is settled with cash and is usually a short-term, forward contract.</p><p>Goldman can protect its clients from the volatility of bitcoin's price by buying and selling bitcoin futures in block trades on <keyword id="123766" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="CME-Group">CME Group</keyword>, using <keyword id="11213726" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="cumberland-drw">Cumberland DRW</keyword> as its trading partner, <a href="https://twitter.com/mattleising/status/1390372719271628800" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg Law</a> reported.</p><p>The bank first announced its intention of dealing with <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/goldman-sachs-restarts-crypto-trading-and-will-begin-trading-bitcoin-futures-report-2021-3-1030137170">bitcoin futures and NDFs in March.</a></p><p>Goldman also in the same month <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/goldman-sachs-restarts-crypto-trading-and-will-begin-trading-bitcoin-futures-report-2021-3-1030137170">restarted its cryptocurrency trading desk</a> amid a booming cryptocurrency market. It first set up a cryptocurrency desk in 2018.</p><p>Bitcoin, since its inception in 2009, has long been shunned by Wall Street firms until recently. </p><p>In March, Morgan Stanley became the first major American bank to <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/bitcoin-morgan-stanley-to-offer-wealthy-clients-btc-fund-access-2021-3-1030221077">offer its wealth management clients access to bitcoin funds</a>, allowing clients ownership of the cryptocurrency. </p><p>JPMorgan followed in April when it announced that its plans to offer <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/jpmorgan-bitcoin-fund-wealthy-clients-access-summer-actively-managed-crypto-2021-4-1030346164?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an actively managed bitcoin fund</a> to wealth clients for the first time.</p><p>Banks are still moving cautiously when it comes to holding bitcoin outright due to regulatory intricacies. This is why some have resorted to derivatives.  </p><p>Bitcoin has seen a 91% gain year-to-date. It briefly <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/bitcoin-price-record-high-coinbase-direct-listing-btc-crypto-2021-4-1030302632?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">breached a record high over $64,000</a> ahead of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase's direct listing, then plummeted by around 36% to $47,000 around 10 days later.</p><p>It is trading lower by 1.07% to $55,905 as of 4:15 p.m. ET.</p>

Goldman Sachs is offering bitcoin derivatives to investors as it expands its offerings in the $1 trillion market

<p><strong>Welcome back!</strong> <a href="https://twitter.com/dandefrancesco">Dan DeFrancesco</a> in NYC. </p><p><strong>REMINDER:</strong> Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! But don't panic. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/gifts/valentines-day-gift-ideas">Here's a list of 57 of the best gifts for that special someone.</a></p><p>On tap, we've got stories on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-caught-up-with-google-ai-openai-chatgpt-2023-2">how a little-known executive helped Microsoft orchestrate its deal with OpenAI</a>, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/237a5096-8bbc-41b6-bf7e-43a133e1edcf?accessToken=zwAAAYY80u2ekc8jelCWi7xBttO_fkOhM-Htzw.MEQCIGRehYNKgE5edcz2Ray-shcHI8qVUfXbenu9RtUlhfoSAiB7lNf8_sZBI38fiqLs9AsnulYT3ffYe6wwMPdt6cqTdQ&amp;sharetype=gift&amp;token=c73495a0-7d09-4173-9340-053e88036c9f">Tiger Global defends those startup bets</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-4-hour-workweek-tim-ferriss-takeaways-book-review-2023-2">everything you wanted to know about "The 4-hour Workweek"</a> without having to read "The 4-hour Workweek."</p><p>But first, <a href="https://youtu.be/KVK6yLqY54w?t=117">I wish I knew how to quit you.</a></p><hr /><p><em>If this was forwarded to you,</em> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter/10-things-on-wall-street"><em>sign up here</em></a><em>. Download Insider's app </em><a href="https://www.insider.com/app"><em>here</em></a><em>.</em></p><hr /><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-exchange-c3-funding-two-sigma-ventures-self-custody-ftx-2023-2"></a></p><p><strong>1. Just can't quit crypto.</strong></p><p>A bunch of high-profile Wall Street investors just piled into a startup that pledges to fix a major issue in the crypto industry.</p><p>If that feels like a headline from 2021, you wouldn't be wrong. And while plenty of those bets blew up — the most spectacular of which was crypto exchange FTX — that hasn't stopped Wall Street. If there is one thing that finance firms love, it's being successful at something where others have failed miserably. </p><p>Which brings us to C3, a new crypto exchange whose investors are a who's who of some of the top trading and investment firms on the Street.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-exchange-c3-funding-two-sigma-ventures-self-custody-ftx-2023-2">As Insider's April Joyner reported</a>, some of the firms involved in C3's $6 million seed round include Two Sigma Ventures, Jane Street Capital, Hudson River Trading, Flow Traders, and GoldenTree Asset Management, along with crypto-focused subsidiaries of traditional players like Jump Crypto of Jump Trading Group and Cumberland of DRW. </p><p>While I've never been a crypto evangelist, I also didn't buy into the notion that crypto was going to go away completely after the FTX debacle. The incident, while obviously detrimental to the industry, also didn't feel like the death knell some made it to be. </p><p>That being said, it's interesting to see the caliber of names that have gotten onboard for C3.</p><p>Granted, this type of an investment is a rounding error for these firms, but their involvement shows the appetite for the space is still high. As Insider's Dakin Campbell previously wrote, FTX was, ironically, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hedge-funds-sam-bankman-fried-ftx-collapse-2022-11">the favored trading place of plenty of "smart money."</a> </p><p><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-exchange-c3-funding-two-sigma-ventures-self-custody-ftx-2023-2">Click here to read more about a new crypto startup that's got backing from some of Wall Street's top trading firms. </a></strong></p><hr /><p><u><strong>In other news:</strong></u></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-live-life-entrepreneur-quit-my-job-2023-2"></a></p><div type="image" title="Cheman Cheung in front of ocean." height="1184" width="1578" msid="97875927" hostid="261" sizebytes="82118"></div><p><strong>2. Everything you could possibly want to know about how Microsoft inked its now-famous deal with ChatGPT's OpenAI. </strong>Insider's Ashley Stewart has the ultimate inside story about how an under-the-radar executive was the mastermind behind the tie-up that has Microsoft going head-to-head with Google. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-caught-up-with-google-ai-openai-chatgpt-2023-2">Read it all here.</a></p><p><strong>3. The Goldman shuffle. </strong>Yet another high-profile exec has departed the bank's consumer group, with Peeyush Nahar announcing to staff that he'll take on an advisory role, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-10/goldman-s-last-key-consumer-banking-hire-exits-loss-making-group?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_term=230210&amp;utm_campaign=author_17510379&amp;sref=5xrDvJna">Bloomberg reports.</a> Meanwhile, one of Goldman's top tech bankers is moving into asset management, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-06/goldman-gs-picks-tmt-banking-head-matt-gibson-for-asset-management-sales?sref=5xrDvJna">per Bloomberg.</a></p><p><strong>4. Tiger Global's startup investments aren't that bad, according to Tiger Global. </strong>The Financial Times has a report on Tiger's annual letter to investors that defends the way the firm calculates valuations for private companies in its portfolio. <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/237a5096-8bbc-41b6-bf7e-43a133e1edcf?accessToken=zwAAAYY80u2ekc8jelCWi7xBttO_fkOhM-Htzw.MEQCIGRehYNKgE5edcz2Ray-shcHI8qVUfXbenu9RtUlhfoSAiB7lNf8_sZBI38fiqLs9AsnulYT3ffYe6wwMPdt6cqTdQ&amp;sharetype=gift&amp;token=c73495a0-7d09-4173-9340-053e88036c9f">More on that here.</a></p><p><strong>5. Walmart's nepo baby. </strong>Lukas Walton, grandson of the founder of Walmart, is the world's 68th-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-lukas-walton-heir-to-walmart-empire">Here's everything you need to know about the fiercely private heir to the Walmart empire.</a> And while we're on nepo babies, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-nelson-peltz-children-family-nicola-brooklyn-beckham-brad-trian-2023-2">here's a rundown of billionaire investor Nelson Peltz's 10 kids.</a></p><p><strong>6. German exchange teams up with Google Cloud Platform. </strong>Deutsche Börse Group and GCP announced a 10-year tie-up that makes <a href="https://deutsche-boerse.com/dbg-en/media/press-releases/Deutsche-B-rse-Group-and-Google-Cloud-Announce-Strategic-Partnership-to-Accelerate-Innovation-3405724">the cloud provider the trading venue's go-to cloud partner</a>. For a breakdown of all the key partnerships between Wall Street and cloud partners, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/public-cloud-wall-street-partnerships-aws-google-cloud-microsoft-ibm-2021-6">check out our running list of more than 30 deals.</a></p><p><strong>7. This $150 million mansion in Connecticut that just went on the market is <em>probably</em> Ray Dalio's, but I can't say that for sure. </strong>The house, which sold for $120 million in 2014, is owned by a limited liability company that has a Bridgewater email address, Bloomberg reports. And a member of the Dalio Family Office recently filed paperwork for said company. But I'm sure it's just a massive coincidence. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-10/a-greenwich-estate-with-ties-to-ray-dalio-hits-market-for-150-million?sref=5xrDvJna">Check out the house that's definitely <em>not</em> Ray Dalio's here.</a></p><p><strong>8. Who's next in line for the Disney throne after CEO Bob Iger, part II. </strong>It's déjà vu all over again. The executive recently announced a restructuring of the company that has some wondering who could succeed Iger. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-ceo-iger-new-disney-structure-bergman-walden-pitaro-2023-2">Here's the rundown</a>. </p><p><strong>9. </strong><strong>She read "The 4-Hour Workweek" so you didn't have to. </strong>Here are 4 of the biggest takeaways from the book that can help you manage work and life.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-4-hour-workweek-tim-ferriss-takeaways-book-review-2023-2"> We just cut it down to the 3-hour workweek. </a></p><p><strong>10. A former finance analyst at JPMorgan details why he quit his job to give himself a reset. </strong>Cheman Cheung left Wall Street after his father passed away to recover from a state of "mental chaos." <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-live-life-entrepreneur-quit-my-job-2023-2">Here's how he found his way again. </a></p><hr /><p><em>Curated by Dan DeFrancesco in New York. Feedback or tips? Email <a href="mailto:ddefrancesco@insider.com">ddefrancesco@insider.com</a>, tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/dandefrancesco">@dandefrancesco</a>, or <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?postID=63e68b442328212f24607415&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fdan-defrancesco-29b12449%2F">connect on LinkedIn</a>. Edited by Jeffrey Cane (tweet </em><a href="https://twitter.com/jeffrey_cane"><em>@jeffrey_cane</em></a><em>) in New York and Hallam Bullock (tweet </em><a href="https://twitter.com/hallam_bullock"><em>@hallam_bullock</em></a><em>) in London. </em></p>

Wall Street trading firms aren't giving up on crypto just yet

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a0b2dc935876ea2008b5ef6-2381/gettyimages-457534490.jpg" alt="trading desk" data-mce-source="Carl Court / Getty Images" /><p class="source"><span>Carl Court / Getty Images</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>DRW, the Chicago-based trading firm, is expanding its bitcoin trading operations into Asia. </strong></li><li><strong>The firm told Business Insider it sees a huge opportunity in Asia for over-the-counter trading. </strong></li><li><strong>The Asian-outpost will be based in Singapore, but will serve all of Asia and enable the firm to operate as global, around-the-clock, business. </strong></li></ul><hr /><p><br />DRW, a Chicago-based firm, is looking to set up a bitcoin trading desk in Singapore to dominate the cryptocurrency market in Asia. </p><p><span>The firm has been in the bitcoin game since 2014 via its division Cumberland Mining, which already operates over-the-counter bitcoin trading desks in Chicago and London. </span></p><p><span>Bobby Cho, the head of over-the-counter trading for Cumberland, told Business Insider the firm is preparing to start up operations in Singapore well-before year-end. </span></p><p>"<span>Asia is a big opportunity for us," Cho said. "We dominate the market in the US and we are trying to bring that liquidity to Asia where there is tons of activity."</span></p><p>DRW already regularly facilitates bitcoin trades in the $1 to $5 million range with trades in the $20 to $50 range being viewed as the "gold standard" ceiling. </p><p>"We are long bitcoin with our average transaction well north of $100,000," Cho said. </p><p>In China, where retail exchanges have shut down en masse because of a crackdown by the government, the OTC business has exploded. OTC trading firms like Cumberland connect buyers and sellers off retail exchanges. </p><p>A study conducted by China's National Committee of Experts on Internet Financial Security found OTC trading has "boomed" since the crackdown began. Here's the report:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>"With the liquidation of domestic ICO and Bitcoin transactions in early September, over-the-counter trading has boomed again. From the transaction data of the two platforms of LocalBitcoin and Paxful, the share of BTC-CNY over-the-counter trading in its total amount of over-the-counter Bitcoin transactions rose from about 5% to about 20%."</span></p><p><span>Cho told Business Insider the firm's strategy isn't necessarily to dominate China. </span></p><p><span>"China has always been a grey box with a lot of things," Cho said. "So I don't look at the opportunity as specifically trying to capture China."</span></p><p>Rather, it's about dominating the entire Asian market, according to Cho, and becoming a truly global, round-the-clock business. </p><p>"We want to provide institutional-grade liquidity to world, regardless of where you are located," he said.</p><p>Sebastian Quinn-Watson, a partner at Blockchain Global, a cryptocurrency exchange operator, told Business Insider he is very bullish on the crypto-market in Asia. Here's Quinn-Watson:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>The mining companies are exploding in size in China.  It is a frenzied market for M&amp;A activity with many of the larger players acquiring smaller players.  There are also a number of very large Japanese mining operations hunting for deals in China as well.  </span></p><p>As for China, he says, it is all systems go in the OTC markets. </p><p>"The ban on exchanges has triggered an explosion in innovation in decentralized exchanges and applications for OTC exchanges," Quinn-Watson said. "Proving the technology and entrepreneurs behind it are allowing the market to live despite the sharp regulatory changes."</p><p class="tagline">Get the latest Bitcoin price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/BTC-USD"> here.&gt;&gt;</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-warren-buffett-billionaires-donate-money-2017-10">How Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are changing the world like no other humans in history</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/M78g9qx1-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

A Chicago trading firm is setting up shop in Singapore to dominate the bitcoin market in Asia

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/59f8dbd53e9d25db458b5df4-1833/rtrtgxd.jpg" alt="cboe eurodollar traders" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Scott Olson" data-mce-caption="Traders and clerks frantically signal trades in eurodollar futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange after the Federal Reserve announced a hike in interest rates, June 30, 1999." /><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Scott Olson</span></p><p class="caption">Traders and clerks frantically signal trades in eurodollar futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange after the Federal Reserve announced a hike in interest rates, June 30, 1999.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul><li><strong>Two of the largest exchange groups in the world are aiming to launch bitcoin derivatives in the fourth quarter.</strong></li><li><strong>High frequency trading firms DRW and Virtu Financial have both engaged with Cboe and CME on their bitcoin futures products. </strong></li><li><strong>Quantlab, another HFT, is also looking at the market.</strong></li></ul><hr /><p> </p><p>Two of the largest exchange groups in the world are aiming to launch bitcoin futures this year, and at least two big trading firms are looking to provide liquidity to the would-be market. </p><p>CME Group, the largest exchange group in the world, announced Tuesday it would aim to roll out bitcoin futures. And Cboe, its cross town rival, also has bitcoin derivatives in the works. <span>Futures are contracts that allow two parties to exchange an asset at a specified price at an agreed upon date in the future. </span></p><p><span>Virtu, a publicly traded high-frequency trader, has met the product development team at CME, and is set to be a liquidity provider, a person familiar with</span><span> the matter told Business Insider.</span></p><p>Bobby Cho, Head of OTC Trading at Cumberland, a bitcoin mining subsidiary of DRW, another trading firm, said in an email that the firm would be involved "anywhere there is significant volume and size in these markets."</p><p>He said: </p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">This is an interesting development in the bitcoin space because it potentially accelerates the pace of involvement of more traditional financial firms. Many already have connections into exchanges like CME, and this is just another product they can plug into. On another front, this likely accelerates the opportunity for a bitcoin ETF to come to market. All of this new activity will open up the market to a different segment of investors who may have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for these types of offerings, allowing them to express their point of view. As the largest liquidity provider in cryptocurrencies, Cumberland will be involved anywhere there is significant volume and size in these markets.</p><p>Bradley S. Jonas, chief business development officer at Quantlab, a Texas-based trading, told Business Insider that the firm is watching the CME and Cboe bitcoin efforts with interest, but that it's unlikely to be a "day one mover." <span>Jonas said the firms speaks regularly with CME and that he is set to reach out to them on their strategy for bitcoin futures soon. </span></p><p><span>"When there's a new product we watch," Jonas said.  "If it's profitable then by all means we jump in." </span></p><p class="tagline">Get the latest Bitcoin price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/BTC-USD"> here.&gt;&gt;</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/excel-index-match-versus-vlookup-masters-find-data-2015-9">This is what separates the Excel masters from the wannabes</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/0TO9B5o6-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Some of the biggest trading firms in the world are getting in on the bitcoin business

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/59fcd01058a0c11e008b6934-2400/rtr2kupz.jpg" alt="oil trader" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton " data-mce-caption="A trader works with telephone receivers in the crude oil and natural gas options pit on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange in New York, April 5, 2011." /><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton </span></p><p class="caption">A trader works with telephone receivers in the crude oil and natural gas options pit on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange in New York, April 5, 2011.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>The explosion and maturation of the cryptocurrency market institutions pouring money into the space.</strong></li><li><strong>Firms such as DRW, a Chicago-based trader, and B2C2, a UK-based over-the-counter broker, are now regularly executing multi-million dollar trades.</strong></li></ul><hr /><p> </p><p><span>"We got a call for a $50 million trade last week."</span></p><p><span>Kevin Beardsley isn't talking about an equities deal, or a bond trade, or a currency bet. Beardsley is the managing director at B2C2, a cryptocurrency brokerage, and he's talking about bitcoin. </span></p><p><span></span><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd">Bitcoin</a> has risen 600% since the beginning of the year, and now big firms are jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon. That's having an effect on the size of trades executed by bitcoin trading desks around the world, and driving up the demand for over-the-counter (OTC) brokers, who specialize in larger trades.<br /><br /><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Such trades are commonplace in big, actively traded markets, like for shares of companies - where they're called block trades - or bonds. And by those standards the bitcoin trading is still mostly relatively small - around $1 million or less - compared with hundreds of millions worth like you might see with a stock trade.</span></p><p>According to Maxime Boonen, a former interest rate swaps trader at Goldman Sachs who founded B2C2 in 2015, OTC bitcoin trade sizes have increased this year as interest in cryptocurrencies from institutional clients, such as asset managers, has buoyed. As such, larger million-dollar trades are more common at B2C2 than they were when the company was founded, according to Boonen. </p><p>It's a similar story at <a href="https://cumberlandmining.com/">Cumberland Mining</a><span>, the bitcoin trading arm of DRW, a Chicago-based market maker that ordinarily trades in the world's biggest markets. </span>DRW regularly facilitates bitcoin trades in the $1 to $5 million range with trades in the $20 to $50 range being viewed as the "gold standard" ceiling. </p><p>"We are long bitcoin with our average transaction well north of $100,000," Bobby Cho, the head of OTC trading at Cumberland, said. </p><p><span></span>The main driver for this newfound interest, according to Boonen, is straightforward.</p><p>"It's a feel good story," he said. "Bitcoin is always going up and institutions are being asked by their clients to get in."</p><p>Such newcomers see the explosive growth of the cryptocurrency market, which has grown from $17 billion at the beginning of the year to $200 billion, as an attractive alternative to the low-yield environment on Wall Street.</p><p>According to Lex Sokolin, a partner at Autonomous NEXT, a fintech analytics provider, companies looking to liquidate the millions of dollars raised from initial coin offerings, a red-hot cryptocurrency based fundraising method, are also bringing big trades to OTC desks. </p><p>ICOs allow companies to raise ethereum, another cryptocurrency, by issuing their own cryptocurrency to participants or investors. In some cases, companies have raised hundreds of millions of dollars. </p><p>"If they are looking to liquidate some of that ethereum into cash to run their business, then they're going to go to an OTC," Sokolin.</p><p>Trevor Koverko, the CEO of <a href="https://polymath.network/">Polymath</a>, a cryptocurrency company, for instance, told Business Insider his company liquidated some of the ethereum it raised from its ICO into cash via an OTC.</p><p>Boonen said the firm has ICO-funded companies coming to them "all the time." But they are very conservative about the ICO-funded companies for which they provide services. </p><h2>This is just the first wave</h2><p>The market, according to Boonen, is currently witnessing the first wave of institutions entering the fray. </p><p>"This year we've seen more nimble asset managers and brokers who deal with retail come to us," he said. "That's where it starts."</p><p>The next wave will come as the infrastructure around bitcoin continues to develop with new products such as futures, which two exchange groups have said they were preparing to launch this year, and an exchange-traded fund. An ETF would allow retail investors to more easily invest in crypto. </p><p>Cumberland's Cho sees an ETF on the horizon over the next 12-months.</p><p><span>"What can happen of the back of [bitcoin futures] is an ETF," he said. "There's tons of capital sitting on the sidelines for an ETF."</span></p><p class="tagline">Get the latest Bitcoin price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/BTC-USD"> here.&gt;&gt;</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mongodb-ceo-dev-ittycheria-ipo-2017-10">MongoDB soars 33% on its first day of trading - the CEO explains how they plan to beat Oracle and Amazon</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/cNM7UaOv-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

A small band of trading specialists are taking calls about $50 million bitcoin deals

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/51556dd7eab8ea9c2f000012-2400/rtr2gjja.jpg" alt="wall street traders" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Brendan McDermid " /><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Brendan McDermid </span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>The market for cryptocurrency is booming, and now trading firms are looking to build out a more mature market infrastructure for the space. </strong></li><li><strong>They will likely set their sights on Wall Street for talent to build out new cryptocurrency trading systems.</strong></li></ul><hr /><p><br />Bitcoin trading firms are seeking top talent to build-out the infrastructure for the booming cryptocurrency market. And that talent is likely to come from Wall Street. </p><p>DRW's crypto trading division, <a href="https://cumberlandmining.com/">Cumberland</a>, provides the latest example.</p><p>The firm recently brought on Helin Goa, a former swaps trader from Goldman Sachs, according to an email seen by Business Insider sent out to employees of Cumberland by Bobby Cho, head of over-the-counter trading. And the firm is seeking to build out the unit, advertising currently for two different positions: <a href="https://boards.greenhouse.io/drw/jobs/918092#.Wg38wrQ-dTZ">one trader</a> and <a href="https://boards.greenhouse.io/drw/jobs/828800#.Wg381LQ-dTY">one developer</a>. </p><p><span>Cumberland, which launched officially in 2014, trades electronically and over-the-counter, receiving calls to execute bitcoin large bitcoin trades in the multi-millions of dollars. </span></p><p><span>Hehmeyer Trading, a Chicago-based prop trader, is also hiring a developer. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/444852354/">According to a LinkedIn ad</a>, the company is looking for someone to "build and maintain trading systems and strategies for use in cryptocurrency markets." </span><span>A representative from Hehmeyer could not be reached for comment by the time of publication. </span></p><p><span>DV Chain, </span>the cryptocurrency division of Chicago prop trading firm DV Trading, is another marketmaker in the space. It has been advertising <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/485134539/">a position for a cryptocurrency software engineer on LinkedIn</a> to help build out the firm's "next-generation" trading platform. </p><p>DV Chain's CEO Garrett See told Business Insider he's not necessarily looking for folks with "blockchain" or "crypto" on their CV. </p><p>"Middle-office, trading software, trading, order management, traditional programming, are the backgrounds we are looking for in people," See said. Those folks often come from Wall Street, he says. </p><h2>Applying Wall Street tech to cryptocurrencies</h2><p><span>See said the firm is focusing on how it can improve the interface between his trading desks and cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase, which lack the capabilities of traditional capital markets players like Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange. </span></p><p><span>"We have been adapting the software we use on the traditional side and applying them to cryptocurrency markets," See said. </span></p><p><span>See said crypto exchanges work differently and in a sense are still "websites" that lack "the industrial scale" of traditional exchanges. And w</span><span>ith cryptocurrency volumes topping as much as $26 million in a single trading day, trading shops are under pressure to enhance their technology. </span> </p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/59e0c6d21f84893b008b4d8b-655/ussian-authorities-agree-to-regulate-crypto-currency-market.jpg" alt="FILE PHOTO: A Bitcoin sign is seen in a window in Toronto, Canada, May 8, 2014.       REUTERS/Mark Blinch/File Photo" data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="FILE PHOTO: A Bitcoin sign is seen in a window in Toronto" /><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">FILE PHOTO: A Bitcoin sign is seen in a window in Toronto</p></div><p></p></div></div>Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange, has been trying to recover from a server crash over the weekend triggered by a spike in usage, for instance.  </span><span>The exchange is also looking for someone who will "<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/492015560/?refId=305280391510860053997&amp;trk=d_flagship3_search_srp_jobs&amp;lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_jobs%3B%2BjNC6YIsSYCal38Z86mcpQ%3D%3D&amp;licu=urn%3Ali%3Acontrol%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_jobs-A_jobssearch_job_result_click">take ownership of active trader products (professional trading platform &amp; APIs</a>)."</span> </p><p><span>Josiah Hernandez, the chief strategy office of CoinSource, a maker of bitcoin ATMs, expects these positions to be filled by former Wall Streeters.</span></p><p><span>"Not many folks from the tech space are able to develop skill sets quickly and hit the ground running as it relates to building markets and providing liquidity," he said. "Fintech and capital markets/[Wall Street] folks usually are though."</span></p><p><span>Meanwhile, exchanges like Cboe and CME have announced they are preparing bitcoin futures products, which will allow traders to bet on the future price of bitcoin. </span></p><p>The launch of bitcoin futures by establishment firms is likely to to open the door to wider participation in bitcoin trading by other Wall Street firms.</p><p>"The CME announcement provides the first step in legitimizing the ever-growing crypto space as a true financial asset," Dave Johnson, the CEO of Latium, a cryptocurrency technology company, told Business Insider. "For market makers this presents access from a known and trusted party into a $94 billion marketplace."</p><p>Business Insider previously reported Virtu Financial and DRW are looking to provide liquidity in bitcoin futures markets. Other traders such as Quantlab and Jump Trading are waiting to see how such a market plays out before jumping on the bandwagon, Business Insider previously reported. </p><p class="tagline">Get the latest Bitcoin price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/BTC-USD"> here.&gt;&gt;</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/interview-with-kristina-hooper-chief-investment-strategist-at-invesco-2017-11">We talked to the chief investment strategist at $920 billion fund giant Invesco about where you should invest right now</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/EpDpiRHy-xjRU7l6Z.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Bitcoin trading shops are hiring Wall Streeters to build out the 'next generation' of cryptocurrency trading

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55145bd369bedd3c33fff1e3-800/462707872.jpg" alt="trader" data-mce-source="Bloomberg/Getty Images" data-link="http://www.gettyimages.com/search/2/image?excludenudity=false&amp;family=editorial&amp;page=4&amp;phrase=bank%20trader&amp;sort=newest" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/search/2/image?excludenudity=false&amp;family=editorial&amp;page=4&amp;phrase=bank%20trader&amp;sort=newest">Bloomberg/Getty Images</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Bitcoin futures have been up and running for more than two months on Cboe Global Markets and CME, and already market participants are calling for a big shakeup in the market. </strong></li><li><strong>A number of market participants are calling on exchanges to switch from cash settlement to physical settlement. </strong></li><li><strong>However, such a change would require a number of players including exchanges and clearing houses to upgrade their infrastructure. </strong></li></ul><hr /><p><br />Some of the biggest players in the crypto market are calling for a shakeup in bitcoin futures trading. </p><p>Bitcoin futures started trading on Cboe Global Markets and CME in December and have been steadily growing since, with volumes for both markets at just under 10,000 contracts traded on Wednesday, according to data from Bloomberg. At least 30 firms trade on Cboe, according to briefing documents from the exchange. </p><p>Bitcoin futures are cash-settled futures contracts. At the point of expiration, a trader will receive (or pay out) the difference between the price he or she bought the future at and the settlement price. In contrast, with physical settlement a trader takes ownership of bitcoin at the price established in the futures contract.</p><p>The cash-settled bitcoin futures market was seen as an attractive option for those looking to bet on the market without needing the infrastructure to handle the coin itself.</p><p>But now many top bitcoin traders, including B2C2, DRW and DV Trading, are calling for the Cboe and CME to switch or add physical settlement. These firms, which <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-trading-matures-as-institutions-pour-in-2017-11">also execute multi-million dollar trades in the bitcoin market</a>, were among the first participants in bitcoin futures and are active traders in the market. </p><p>Pricing for Cboe's contracts <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/problems-with-gemini-foundation-for-cboe-bitcoin-futures-2017-12">rely on the auction of a single exchange</a>, whereas CME's contracts rely on a price index composed on four exchanges. The problem with this set up, according to opponents, is that it could result in contracts settling at a price that doesn't reflect the most precise price of the coin. </p><p>"There are so many variables," John Lothian, a former trader and founder of industry newsletter John Lothian News, told Business Insider. </p><p>"Each exchange shows different price levels, they operate in different countries, and are exposed to different regulatory risk," Lothian added. </p><p>Richard Gorelick, the head of market structure at trading firm DRW, which operates crypto trading giant Cumberland, <a href="https://www.risk.net/commodities/5417676/drw-calls-for-physical-settlement-of-bitcoin-futures">said during a meeting with watchdog CFTC earlier this month</a>: "We continue to have concerns that the way these futures contracts are pegged to these cash markets - which are less transparent - could result in dislocations in the future."</p><p>Physical settlement would also better facilitate an arbitrage trade, according to Garrett See of DV Chain, a cryptocurrency trading firm. If bitcoin is trading at a discount in the spot market relative to the futures market, a trader can go long bitcoin and short the future for a profit. See said:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"If they are physical delivery futures, then I know exactly what my P&amp;L will be if I hold it to expiration. If they're cash settled, I have to make another trade to unwind the spot position at expiration and I have to hope that I can unwind my position at the expiration price (including fees) even though I may not have the ability to trade on the exchanges that are being used to determine settlement price."</p><p>To be sure, firms like Cumberland and DV Chain stand to benefit from such a set up more than firms that don't trade in bitcoin and are just speculating on bitcoin futures, CoinRoutes chief executive Dave Weisberger said. </p><p>Still, he said that "if the arbitragers costs come down, spreads tighten and the markets get more efficient."</p><p>It's also unclear what, if anything, these firms will do if there's no switch to physical settlement. And the switch to physically-settled futures would require the CME and Cboe to build out the necessary infrastructure, which is easier said than done. </p><p>"There's no mechanism for clearing physical delivery," one industry insider told Business Insider. "Today's infrastructure does not yet support the clearing and custody of digital assets in a secure manner. Nor does it have the ability to facilitate simultaneous settlement of cash versus digital assets."</p><p>Max Boonen, the founder of B2C2, a UK-based crypto market making firm, supports a physical delivery model, but also noted that such a settlement infrastructure would be difficult to implement. </p><p>"Basically the clearing houses and the FCMs/brokers would need a bitcoin infrastructure to transfer crypto," he said in an email to Business Insider. </p><p>Physically-settled bitcoin futures would also need to get the green light from the CFTC.</p><p>A spokeswoman for CME told Business Insider that the exchange doesn't "have plans to introduce a physically-settled contract."</p><p>"We are always talking with our customers to understand their risk-management needs as the marketplace evolves," she added. </p><p>Cboe didn't respond to messages seeking comment. </p><p class="tagline"><div id="categorypromo" style="border:1px solid silver; min-height:90px; padding:10px;vertical-align:top;"><a href="http://read.bi/bitcoin-101-free"><img src="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/image/5a3054550b0f272e008b4d63-480" style="margin-right:15px;width:75px;float:left !important;" /></a><strong>EXCLUSIVE FREE REPORT:</strong><br>The Bitcoin 101 Report by the BI Intelligence Research Team.<br><strong><a href="http://read.bi/bitcoin-101-free">Get the Report Now »</a></strong></br></br></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-apples-battery-slowing-controversy-means-for-iphone-sales-2018-2">Here's what Apple's battery-slowing controversy means for iPhone sales</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/VK7hPUpk-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

The top cryptocurrency traders are asking for a big shakeup to bitcoin futures

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5670565b2340f87d008b5c46-2400/gettyimages-457534490.jpg" alt="trading desk" data-mce-source="Carl Court / Getty Images" /><p class="source"><span>Carl Court / Getty Images</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Jane Street, a secretive trading firm which traded more than $5 trillion in 2017, has started trading bitcoin, the company told Business Insider.</strong></li><li><strong>It says it is open to further diving into the space as it continues to evolve.</strong></li></ul><hr /><p>Jane Street has jumped on the cryptocurrency bandwagon.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/business/dealbook/a-new-breed-of-trader-on-wall-street-coders-with-a-phd.html">secretive trading firm</a>, which traded $5 trillion across different products in 2017, is known for its heavy focus on technology and weight in stock trading. Now, it joins a slew of other traders in the crypto market.</p><p>"Jane Street trades over 56,000 products globally across a wide variety of asset classes, including bitcoin," the company confirmed in a statement. </p><p>Jane Street has over 600 employees and facilitates $13 billion in equity trading volumes a day, according to its <a href="https://www.janestreet.com/what-we-do/">website</a>.</p><p>Founded in 2000, it only entered the crypto market in the last year, people familiar with the situation told Business Insider. It follows the lead of DRW, which entered the market via its crypto trading arm Cumberland in 2014.</p><p>Other high-frequency traders and market makers to dive into the space include DV Trading, Hehmeyer Trading, Virtu Financial, and Jump Trading. </p><p>These companies, which make more money trading in volatile markets, have been attracted to the spine-tingling price moves in crypto markets, a space where 20% dips are par for the course. </p><p>Arbitrage opportunities in crypto have been particularly mouth-watering. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can trade at wildly different prices on any given exchange, giving traders the opportunity to buy low on one venue to then sell high on another.</p><p>"There is sometimes 10% exchange arbitrage," Toby Allen of trading firm Akuna Capital previously told Business Insider. "As a trader it is such an amazingly fun space to be in compared to traditional assets because of the spreads and technology gaps."</p><p>It's not clear how much Jane Street has made from crypto, but the company said it expected to be involved as more crypto products were created.</p><p>"Jane Street has always taken a considered approach to trading opportunities and will continue to do so," the firm told Business Insider. "As more cryptocurrency products emerge, we expect to be involved."</p><p class="tagline"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/bitcoin-101?IR=T&amp;utm_source=businessinsider&amp;utm_medium=ctgr&amp;utm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_content=fintech_ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_campaign=fintech_ctgr_leadgen_bitcoin-101"><img src="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/image/5aa7e48a3be59f21008b4638" alt="Exclusive FREE Report: The Bitcoin 101 Report by Business Insider Intelligence" border="0" style="width: 100% !important" /></a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/twist-at-the-end-of-the-synchronized-global-growth-story-emerging-markets-tech-2018-3">There's a surprising twist at the end of the 'synchronized global growth' story</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/JpuQfflb-xjRU7l6Z.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

One of the most secretive trading firms on Wall Street has started trading bitcoin

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ace4b44146e7121008b4598-2400/ap302827823332.jpg" border="0" alt="happy trader" data-mce-source="AP/Mark Lennihan" data-mce-caption="A trader smiles as he follows prices before the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Jan. 22, 2016." /><p class="source"><span>AP/Mark Lennihan</span></p><p class="caption">Trading activity at one of the largest cryptocurrency trading shops is picking up.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Circle Trade, the trading operation of Circle, has increased their minimum ticket size on bitcoin trades to $500,000.</strong></li><li><strong>The move comes during a trading lull in the market for digital currencies across crypto exchange venues.</strong></li><li><strong>Chief executive Jeremy Allaire told Business Insider the size of block trades has grown significantly since the beginning of the year.</strong></li></ul><hr /><p>Trading activity at one of the largest cryptocurrency trading shops is picking up despite a lull across exchanges that trade crypto.</p><p>In an interview with Business Insider, Circle chief executive Jeremy Allaire said the size of block trades made by Circle Trade, the firm's over-the-counter trading desk, has grown significantly since the beginning of the year.</p><p>That's despite a share decline in cryptocurrency trading volumes across retail exchanges. Per data from CoinMarketCap, 24-hour trading volumes are down to about $20 billion a day from all-time highs near $70 billion at the beginning of the year.</p><p>But "the market is robust" for Circle.</p><p>"The minimum ticket size has moved up to $500,000 with an average of $1 million," Allaire said.</p><p>Some transactions, according to Allaire, are larger than $100 million. Previously, the minimum ticket size for a trade at Circle was $250,000.</p><p>"That water mark will continue to rise," Allaire said.</p><p>OTC trading occurs off exchange venues, such as Coinbase's GDAX or Kraken, for instance. The point of such desks is to provide a platform for high-net-worth crypto-holders and institutions to make large trades without impacting the broader market.</p><p>As a alternative to crypto-exchanges, they typically have deeper liquidity to support such transactions. One industry insider told Business Insider that deeper liquidity in OTC markets has played into the growth of a number of trading shops.</p><p>"If I have $5 million, I can't do that trade on GDAX," the person said.</p><p>OTC desks can also provide a more secure alternative to crypto exchanges, which are known for hacks and outages.</p><p>Circle, which counts investment bank Goldman Sachs as a a strategic backer, trades more than $2 billion in cyptocurency a month. It recently opened operations in Asia, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-15/goldman-backed-circle-is-hiring-100-for-global-crypto-expansion">Bloomberg reported</a>.</p><p>Recently, Circle announced it acquired Poloniex, a cryptocurrency exchange. It plans to scale the business by bringing it to new markets, adding the number of coins on its platform, and enabling fiat-to-crypto transactions.</p><p>Elsewhere in the cypto OTC market, DRW's Cumberland operates a trading desk. Kraken, as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-veteran-leaves-credit-suisse-for-crypto-trading-desk-2018-4">Business Insider first reported</a>, recently launched their own, too.</p><p>A person familiar with operations at Genesis, another cryptocurrency trading shop, told Business Insider its average trade size has increased to about $300,000. The company trades $1 to $2 billion a month, the person said.</p><p class="tagline"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/bitcoin-101?IR=T&amp;utm_source=businessinsider&amp;utm_medium=ctgr&amp;utm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_content=fintech_ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_campaign=fintech_ctgr_leadgen_bitcoin-101"><img src="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/image/5aa7e48a3be59f21008b4638" alt="Exclusive FREE Report: The Bitcoin 101 Report by Business Insider Intelligence" border="0" style="width: 100% !important" /></a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-stock-price-data-protection-privacy-regulation-2018-4">Facebook's recent struggles have investors in a panic - and looming regulation could forever change how it does business</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/PfXFEqgP-xjRU7l6Z.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

'The market is robust:' A trader backed by Goldman Sachs bumps up the minimum to make a bitcoin trade to $500,000

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b4f1ea9e121fe1a008b4636-2400/gettyimages-180991597.jpg" border="0" alt="bitcoin storefront currency" data-mce-source="Cameron Spencer/Getty Images" /><p class="source"><span>Cameron Spencer/Getty Images</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul><li><strong><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd">Bitcoin</a> jumped around 10% in a 20 minute period on Tuesday, with no obvious news spurring the price rise.</strong></li><li><strong>Market analysts say new money coming into the market could have created a short squeeze, forcing traders who bet against bitcoin to buy the digital currency to cover their losses.</strong></li><li><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd"><strong>You can follow the live bitcoin price on Markets Insider.</strong></a></li></ul><hr /><p>LONDON - The huge spike in <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd">bitcoin</a>'s price on Tuesday may have been driven in part by a squeeze on leveraged short sellers, according to market commentators.</p><p>Bitcoin jumped over $600, or around 10%, in a short amount of time in afternoon US trade on Tuesday. The cryptocurrency broke above $7,000 for the first time in around a month thanks to the rally. It remains above that level on Wednesday, <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd">trading up 1.13% against the dollar to $7,397.86 at 12 p.m. BST</a> (7 a.m. ET).</p><p>Tuesday's rapid price surge didn't appear to be correlated to any immediate news and some market commentators have pinned the rise on a short squeeze.</p><p>"The assumption is this is a combination of some sort of short squeeze and some new money coming in [to the market]," Mati Greenspan, an analyst with trading platform eToro, told Business Insider in a phone interview on Wednesday.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b4f1e6c01180c1e008b45d1-815/bitcoin.png" border="0" alt="bitcoin" data-mce-source="Markets Insider" data-mce-caption="The jump in bitcoin's price on Tuesday." data-link="http://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd">Markets Insider</a></span></p><p class="caption">The jump in bitcoin's price on Tuesday.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>A short squeeze occurs when short sellers - who have bet against bitcoin's price hoping to profit from declines - are forced to buy bitcoin to cover their positions. Short bets can have nearly unlimited losses - or profits if they go right - and so investors buy the underlying asset to close out their position.</p><p>Analysts at startup London Block Exchange said in their Wednesday morning market email: "While over the past few months we've seen several stop runs aimed at liquidating longs, it seems these fast price moves are being propelled by the cascading reactions caused by short orders closing, i.e. those who were betting against the market being forced to exit their positions."</p><p>LBX flagged an apparent note from Cumberland, a bitcoin liquidity provider that is owned by Chicago's DRW, <a href="https://twitter.com/LightCrypto/status/1019413615944888320?utm_campaign=Market%20Report&amp;utm_source=hs_email&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=64527813&amp;_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_dnyoDoKiBohw_fwbfYTLEb6cRAiZbzS0l84dHSM0EafYz17G0H5F_Er09q777JkRpqrQrUryv5P3wQaaA_FONlWrc2AKS4-6c9Ijy1Dj575t_uSI&amp;_hsmi=64527813">that was posted on Twitter.</a> In it, analysts say $6,850 was likely a key stop-loss point for short sellers - the level at which many decide to cover their losses by liquidating short positions.</p><p>"According to our calculation, roughly $180,000,000 [worth of short positions] were liquidated on BitMex during the 20+ minute period between BTC's initial spike and when it topped off," the note read.</p><p>BitMex is a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency-derivatives platform that allows retail investors to short crypto contracts and futures. The platform offers leverage of up to 100 times. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bitmex-ceo-arthur-hayes-on-vc-funding-2018-1">CEO Arthur Hayes told Business Insider in January that the platform had notional daily trading volumes of $1 billion on its platform.</a></p><p>"Liquidity is always a bit thin in this market, Greenspan said. "It doesn't have the same processes and automation as most of the traditional assets. Certainly, there would be shorts getting liquidated."</p><p>However, Greenspan said new money coming into the market may have been the initial spur that pushed bitcoin above $6,850, triggering a train reaction.</p><p>"What I'm seeing is that at the time of the spike, volumes definitely spiked at the time but what's interesting is that US dollar volumes spiked as well," he said.</p><p>Around $135 million worth of bitcoin was traded using dollars in a 15-minute span during the spike, Greenspan said. That compares to 5-minute volumes of between $1.5 million and $2 million in the 20 minutes leading up to the spike.</p><p>Greenspan said he believes the jump in dollar volumes suggests new money was coming into the market.</p><p>"Generally speaking, if you're talking about seasoned crypto traders that are going in and out, that would be done in Tether," he said. Tether is a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar that is used by many leading crypto exchanges to provide dollar-like liquidity.</p><p>Greenspan added that he couldn't prove the spike in dollar volumes was due to new money coming into the market, nor could he say how many people or institutions were likely behind the volume. He said volumes from exchanges Bitfinex and Coinbase Pro climbed on the day.</p><p>Cumberland's note also flagged the possible role of breakout traders in the rally. Breakout traders are technical analysts who enter the market once assets breach certain levels which they believe signal the start of rallies.</p><p>Matthew Newton, a market analyst at eToro, said in an email: "A great technical setup yesterday may also have helped spur prices forward."</p><p>Greenspan said: "Certainly it could have to do with the fact that it broke above that $6,800 level, that could very well be the catalyst. On the other hand, the breakout [above $6,800] could have happened because of new money coming in."</p><p class="tagline"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/future-of-zelle-venmo-and-p2p-payments?IR=T&amp;utm_source=businessinsider&amp;utm_medium=ctgr&amp;utm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_content=payments_ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_campaign=payments_ctgr_leadgen_future-of-zelle"><img src="https://media-bii-originals.businessinsider.com/5ad9f7da19ee8648008b45b6" alt="Exclusive FREE Report: The Future of Zelle, Venmo, and P2P Payments by Business Insider Intelligence" border="0" style="width: 100% !important" /></a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoins-value-solving-the-problem-with-fiat-money-2018-7">An early investor in Airbnb and Uber explains why he started buying bitcoin in 2009</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/wGXWqxIj-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Bitcoin's mad 10% spike could have been a short squeeze

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5acf5b8a146e7104048b47ab-1024/gettyimages-942279718.jpg" border="0" alt="trader" data-mce-source="Drew Angerer/Getty" data-mce-caption="Traders and financial professionals work ahead of the opening bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), April 5, 2018 in New York City. After a chaotic trading day on Wednesday, the Dow opened up over 150 points on Thursday morning. Markets continue to be on edge due to concerns over a potential trade war between the U.S. and China." /><p class="source"><span>Drew Angerer/Getty</span></p><p class="caption">Traders and financial professionals work ahead of the opening bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), April 5, 2018 in New York City. After a chaotic trading day on Wednesday, the Dow opened up over 150 points on Thursday morning. Markets continue to be on edge due to concerns over a potential trade war between the U.S. and China.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul><li><strong>Genesis Trading is hiring an overnight trader to help the firm meet demand out of Asia. </strong></li><li><strong>The new hire might be a precursor to the firm setting up shop on the continent, CEO Michael Moro told Business Insider. </strong></li></ul><p>Genesis Trading, a New York-based cryptocurrency trading firm, is hiring an overnight trader to meet demand from clients in Asia as it weighs whether or not to expand onto the continent. </p><p>The company, which trades cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin over-the-counter, is looking to hire someone to sit on the desk from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., <a href="https://genesistrading.com/careers/vice-president-of-trading-nighttime/">according to a job advertisement</a>. </p><p>Genesis Trading was one of the first trading firms to jump on the bitcoin bandwagon. The company spun-off from SecondMarket's cryptocurrency trading desk in 2015. It recently has launched a new lending business which has attracted more than 60 clients, including market making firms and cryptocurrency hedge funds.</p><p>Chief executive officer Michael Moro told Business Insider in an interview that the new overnight trader will address new demand out of Asia. </p><p>"We've always traded in the off hours, but it was always by appointment," Moro said. "We'd have someone awake to deal with a certain client and then go back to bed."</p><p>Moro said the addition of the overnight trader could be a precursor to the firm expanding into Asia. </p><p>"I'm still trying to figure out is whether I need an entire trading operation in London or Tokyo, or just a salesforce to do business development, with a 24/7 hour trader in New York," he said. </p><p>Moro said the firm is leaning towards option B, for now. </p><p><span>Asia, specifically Japan, has become a big market for cryptocurrency trading. 40% of bitcoin trading from October to November was conducted in yen,<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-trading-driven-by-japanese-men-yen-2017-12"> according to a Nikkei report cited in a Deutsche Bank note.</a> The country was among the first to designate bitcoin as a legal tender and it has one of the most well-established and supportive regulatory environments for cryptocurrencies.</span></p><p><span>Circle Trade, another cryptocurrency trader, is also enjoying a boom in over-the-counter trading markets. It recently expanded its operations in Asia, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-15/goldman-backed-circle-is-hiring-100-for-global-crypto-expansion">Bloomberg reported</a>.</span></p><p>DRW's Cumberland has also set <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=frank+chaparro+asia+drw&amp;oq=frank+chaparro+asia+drw+&amp;aqs=chrome..69i57.8351j0j4&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8">up a cryptocurrency desk in Asia</a>. </p><p>Cryptocurrency trading in OTC markets is rising, while volumes across retail exchanges have tanked as interest in bitcoin markets has fizzled in recent months. Per data from CoinMarketCap, 24-hour trading volumes are down to about $25 billion a day from all-time highs near $70 billion at the beginning of the year.</p> <p class="tagline"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/bitcoin-101?IR=T&amp;utm_source=businessinsider&amp;utm_medium=ctgr&amp;utm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_content=fintech_ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_campaign=fintech_ctgr_leadgen_bitcoin-101"><img src="https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/image/5aa7e48a3be59f21008b4638" alt="Exclusive FREE Report: The Bitcoin 101 Report by Business Insider Intelligence" border="0" style="width: 100% !important" /></a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gam-cio-dispels-one-big-investing-myth-2018-4">The chief economist at a $163 billion firm dispels one of investing's biggest myths</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/S5mABBz0-xjRU7l6Z.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Genesis Trading looks to go 24/7 as demand in an opaque corner of the crypto market booms

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Reuters / Kai Pfaffenbach" title_caption="A trader, telling his friend about the cool new way he's been hedging the stock market." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/59772d46552be552008b6477-960/rtr2po0.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/59772d46552be552008b6477-2048/rtr2po0.jpg" border="0" alt="trader cocky" data-mce-source="Reuters / Kai Pfaffenbach" data-mce-caption="A trader, telling his friend about the cool new way he's been hedging the stock market." /></a><p class="source"><span>Reuters / Kai Pfaffenbach</span></p><p class="caption">A trader, telling his friend about the cool new way he's been hedging the stock market.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Jump Trading, a Chicago-based firm, has built an OTC platform for electronic bitcoin trading, according to people familiar with the matter. </strong></li><li><strong>Its graphics user interface, or GUI, allows it to trade with counterparties electronically in a way that leaves a clear audit trail and records, rather than via phones or Skype.</strong></li><li><strong>The development shows the company is seriously exploring the crypto market and is a sign that  market is maturing. </strong></li></ul><hr /><p>Cryptocurrencies are viewed by many evangelists as one of the most groundbreaking financial innovations of the modern age. But the way crypto trades looks like something out of an old school Wall Street flick. </p><p>For the most part, trading firms are making nine-figure crypto trades over-the-phone, not electronically. DRW's crypto arm Cumberland uses Skype calls to conduct its bitcoin deal-making, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-otc/otc-crypto-market-flourishes-powered-by-skype-idUSKCN1H91P4">Reuters reported</a>. </p><p>But Jump Trading, the Chicago-based firm, has built a platform that will allow it to take the other side of large crypto trades electronically with its counterparties, according to people familiar with the matter. The so-called graphic user interface or GUI allows those counterparties to interact with Jump on a desktop. It does not allow users to connect to external trading exchanges. </p><p>Jump is known for its ultra high-speed trading strategies, but it's also been developing what it calls a "<a href="http://www.jumptrading.com/apply.html?gh_jid=564222">lower frequency trading strategy</a>." It's also known for its discretion,<span> </span><a href="http://www.jumptrading.com/">with little information on the firm available on its website</a>.</p><p>The new platform shows that Jump is taking the new market for cryptocurrencies seriously, according to a person familiar with the firm's thinking. Also, the firm believes that voice and chatroom environments don't leave a clear audit trail, the person said. </p><p>Jump Capital, the venture capital firm affiliated with Jump Trading, has made crypto a focus for 2018, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jump-trading-is-making-crypto-a-big-focus-2018-4">as previously reported by Business Insider</a>. </p><p><span>"GUI's are not unique," Michael Dunworth, the chief executive of Wyre, a blockchain tech company, told Business Insider. "But it is impressive that Jump built it."</span></p><p><span>The move shows the cryptocurrency market is maturing in a similar way to the now multi-trillion dollar foreign exchange market, which in its earliest days saw trades conducted mostly over the phone, says John Spallanzani, a former FX trader at Sumitomo Mitsui who is now a portfolio manager at Miller Value Partners. </span></p><p><span>"We used to call 20 banks at once for spot FX prices," Spallanzani, said of forex trading in the 1990s. </span></p><p><span>"It's without doubt maturing just by the fact that there's so many OTC desk's out in the mix," Dunworth added. </span></p><p><span>Kraken, the crypto exchange, set up an OTC desk in New York, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-veteran-leaves-credit-suisse-for-crypto-trading-desk-2018-4">Business Insider first reported</a>. There's also Genesis Global Trading and itBit, the OTC run by Paxos.</span><span></span></p><p><span>At the same time, crypto-focused investment funds are opening up at a record-pace, according to new research by CryptoFundResearch. 61 new funds have launched in 2018, according to firm's research, bringing the total number above 366 globally. To be sure, such funds manage in total a paltry $5 billion, a fraction of the $3.2 trillion managed by the entire hedge fund industry. </span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sallie-krawcheck-impact-investing-diversity-benefits-of-investing-in-women-2018-6">Former Wall Street CEO reveals how most financial products designed for women completely miss the point</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/q8RPQMRk-xjRU7l6Z.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

A secretive Chicago trading firm has built a bitcoin platform that shows crypto is shaking off its scrappy roots

<p><strong>Welcome to Finance Insider, Business Insider's summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours. Sign up here to <a href="http://e.businessinsider.com/join/ci/finance-insider-social-first&amp;hash=36afac95fa844948a9f363295d512fca">get the best of Business Insider delivered direct to your inbox.</a></strong></p><p><strong>Economy doomed for failure? </strong></p><p>When it comes to predicting a<span> </span>stock market<span> </span>crash, all roads lead back to the<span> </span>economy.</p><p>That's why it's so jarring to hear someone claim that today's economic system is "dysfunctional," which is what the world-renowned market skeptic<span> </span>John Hussman<span> </span>just did.</p><p>Hussman, a former economics professor who is now the president of the Hussman Investment Trust, is no stranger to such bearish proclamations, having made a name for himself by repeatedly predicting a<span> </span>stock market decline exceeding 60%<span> </span>and forecasting a<span> </span>full decade of negative equity returns. He <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/next-stock-market-crash-economic-ponzi-scheme-what-is-different-2018-6">has now turned his sights on the economy, which he says is setting the market up for unprecedented failure.</a></p><p><strong>Big departure at RBC</strong></p><p>Blair Fleming, head of RBC Capital Markets in the US, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rbcs-us-head-of-investment-banking-fleming-has-exited-the-firm-2018-5">has left the firm after more than 30 years, </a>according to people familiar with the matter.</p><p>Fleming, who also served as the head of US investment banking at RBC, had worked at the firm since 1986 beginning in London, Ontario. He assumed his current responsibilities in 2009, according to the bank's website.</p><p><strong>Crypto is growing up </strong></p><p>Cryptocurrencies are viewed by many of their evangelists as one of the most groundbreaking financial innovations of the modern age. But the way crypto trades looks like something out of an old-school Wall Street flick.</p><p>For the most part, trading firms are making multimillion-dollar crypto trades over the phone, not electronically. DRW's crypto arm, Cumberland, uses Skype calls to conduct its bitcoin dealmaking. </p><p>But Jump Trading, the Chicago-based firm, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/a-secretive-chicago-trading-firm-has-built-a-bitcoin-platform-that-shows-crypto-is-shaking-off-its-scrappy-roots-2018-6">has built a platform that will allow it to take the other side of large crypto trades electronically with its counterparties,</a> according to people familiar with the matter.</p><p><strong>Banker poaching heats up </strong></p><p>JPMorgan <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-poached-a-top-industrials-banker-from-morgan-stanley-hottest-sector-2018-6?r=UK&amp;IR=T">has hired a senior investment banker from Morgan Stanley </a>to add more firepower to the firm's industrials coverage, according to an internal memo viewed by Business Insider.</p><p>Lawrence Steyn, formerly a managing director with Morgan Stanley, is joining JPMorgan as a vice chairman of investment banking, according to the memo from Eric Stein, the firm's head of North American investment banking. Steyn worked with many major industrials companies during his time at Morgan Stanley. </p><p><span>It's been an active year in senior investment banking moves generally, and the industrials sector, despite being middling in terms of deal activity, has seen a number of moves.</span></p><p><strong>Tough test for Microsoft CEO </strong></p><p>When it comes to the $7.5 billion acquisition of GitHub,<span> </span>Microsoft<span> </span>CEO Satya Nadella urged software developers to "judge us by the actions we have taken in the recent past, our actions today and in the future."</p><p>From Microsoft's and Nadella's perspective, GitHub fits right into the master plan. Microsoft has been investing heavily in open source in the four years since Nadella took the reins. In fact, Microsoft is the single biggest corporate contributor to open-source projects on GitHub, edging out competitors like Google and Facebook. Microsoft even uses GitHub internally to build some of its products.</p><p>And yet if Nadella sounds defensive, it's with good reason, as not everyone in the tech industry loves the deal. Some GitHub users are already even decamping to competitors like the venture-backed GitLab and Atlassian Bitbucket before the deal even closes.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-github-developers-atlassian-gitlab-2018-6">More here. </a></p><p> </p><p><strong>In markets news</strong></p><ul><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-outlook-corporate-flow-surging-investor-reaction-hints-2018-6">America's biggest companies are handing investors trillions of dollars this year - here's what their reaction says about the future of the market</a></li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-stock-price-sp-500-addition-what-it-means-2018-6">Twitter was just added to the S&amp;P 500 -here's what that means for its stock </a></li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-investing-outlook-lessons-citi-private-bank-2018-6">Citi scrutinized the investment accounts of thousands of its super-rich clients, and the findings reveal crucial lessons for every investor</a></li></ul><section></section><section></section><section id="l-content" data-track-page-area="Post" data-post-content=""><section><section id="l-content" data-track-page-area="Post" data-post-content=""></section></section></section><section id="l-content" data-track-page-area="Post" data-post-content=""><section><article><section id="l-content" data-track-page-area="Post" data-post-content=""></section><section id="l-content" data-track-page-area="Post" data-post-content=""></section></article></section></section>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-meet-financial-and-social-impact-goals-2018-5">Millennials are driving a shift in investing - here's how to meet your financial and social impact goals</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/fpmfB5Na-xjRU7l6Z.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

What you need to know on Wall Street today

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b2375ba1ae6624d008b5170-1640/yoni assia.jpg" border="0" alt="eToro Yoni Assia" data-mce-source="eToro" data-mce-caption="eToro CEO Yoni Assia." /><p class="source"><span>eToro</span></p><p class="caption">eToro CEO Yoni Assia.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul><li><strong>eToro is a social trading platform that lets retail investors trade stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other assets.</strong></li><li><strong>CEO Yoni Assia tells Business Insider eToro is now setting up a desk to cater for institutional investors looking to get into crypto.</strong></li><li><strong>"We've seen more and more interest from corporates and institutions," he said.</strong></li></ul><hr /><p><br />LONDON - Social trading platform eToro is setting up a new over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk in London for cryptocurrencies amid growing interest from institutional investors.</p><p>eToro CEO Yoni Assia told Business Insider: "We are launching an OTC desk for institutions. We've seen more and more interest from corporates and institutions."</p><p>OTC desks cater to clients who want to place large orders that may otherwise move markets for certain assets. OTC brokers pool liquidity across different exchanges to fill these orders. eToro, which lets people trade stocks, crypto, and other assets, has connections to 15 cryptocurrency exchanges around the world and is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/etoro-launching-cryptocurrency-exchange-2018-5">planning to launch its own exchange.</a></p><p>Assia said: "We've actually set up our corporate team here in the UK to start setting up accounts to trade on eToro. We've announced that we're launching the exchange as well so, between the exchange and the OTC desk, we're also starting to serve more potential institutions and financial institutions."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b23761c1ae66244008b5359-827/yoni and vitalik.jpg" border="0" alt="Yoni and Vitalik" data-mce-source="eToro" data-mce-caption="Assia with ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin." /><p class="source"><span>eToro</span></p><p class="caption">Assia with ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Mainstream financial institutions were largely dismissive of cryptocurrencies until last year but have grown increasingly interested after a surge in the value of bitcoin. Exchange operators <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-futures-sends-price-up-2017-12">CME Group and CBOE both launched bitcoin futures</a> at the end of last year to offer more traditional investors exposure to the space.</p><p>The cryptocurrency market crashed from a peak of over $800 billion in December to around $280 billion today, but institutional interest has persisted.</p><p>Goldman Sachs-backed cryptocurrency startup Circle and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/drw-is-setting-up-shop-in-asia-2017-11">Cumberland Mining, a division of Chicago high-speed trading company DRW</a>, both offer OTC crypto services and have reported rising interest from institutions. Goldman Sachs has begun <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-pops-after-report-goldman-sachs-will-start-trading-products-linked-to-bitcoin-2018-5">setting up a desk to trade on cryptocurrencies on behalf of clients</a>, and the likes of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-ask-oliver-harris-to-explore-cryptocurrency-strategy-2018-5">JPMorgan</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fidelity-a-household-name-in-american-investing-is-plotting-a-big-move-into-cryptocurrency-trading-2018-6">Fidelity are also assessing the space.</a></p><p>Assia said institutional interest in the space was still at an early stage. "It's the owners of hedge funds at this point," he said when asked who was contacting eToro.</p><p>"What we're seeing is a sense of interest and people who want to experiment but not yet take their core assets in. Corporates are corporates. But we're seeing more interest from the city folk who potentially could take that interest institutionally but the initial interest is in experimenting - where we were in 2010."</p><h2>'Public market players and big banks feel left out'</h2><p><a href="https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/etoro-approaches-investment-banks-over-ipo-20180601">Financial News reported recently</a> that eToro had held preliminary talks with bankers about a potential IPO. Assia was circumspect, telling BI the discussions were "in a standard course of business for a business that raised $100 million and significantly scaled its revenues."</p><p>"Obviously, we have the surrounding people who are interested in taking us there but it's nothing that has been set in stone."</p><p>He added that bankers were likely keen to capitalise on the surge in interest in cryptocurrencies among investors.</p><p>"I think there is growing institutional demand and interest of public investors to understand whether they can join the party," Assia said. "That is something we definitely see out there. We see more and more public market players and big banks who are interested in this space and feel left out because they're not allowed to invest in crypto or ICOs."</p><p>eToro was founded in 2006 and claims to have over 10 million retail customers worldwide, with the majority in Europe. The online platform lets investors track, follow, and even automatically copy the trades other investors. This week the business announced that customers can now buy and hold both stocks and cryptocurrencies in the same portfolio.</p><p class="tagline">Get the latest Bitcoin price <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/BTC-USD">here.&gt;&gt;</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-are-driving-a-huge-shift-in-the-way-we-shop-and-invest-2018-5">Millennials are leading an investment revolution - here's what makes their generation different</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/ZGqHTFaO-xjRU7l6Z.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

You Searched For "cumberland drw" and got 14 results

Goldman Sachs is offering bitcoin derivatives to investors as it expands its offerings in the $1 trillion market

Isabelle Lee

Wall Street trading firms aren't giving up on crypto just yet

Dan DeFrancesco

A Chicago trading firm is setting up shop in Singapore to dominate the bitcoin market in Asia

Frank Chaparro

Some of the biggest trading firms in the world are getting in on the bitcoin business

Frank Chaparro

A small band of trading specialists are taking calls about $50 million bitcoin deals

Frank Chaparro

Bitcoin trading shops are hiring Wall Streeters to build out the 'next generation' of cryptocurrency trading

Frank Chaparro

The top cryptocurrency traders are asking for a big shakeup to bitcoin futures

Frank Chaparro

One of the most secretive trading firms on Wall Street has started trading bitcoin

Frank Chaparro

'The market is robust:' A trader backed by Goldman Sachs bumps up the minimum to make a bitcoin trade to $500,000

Frank Chaparro

Bitcoin's mad 10% spike could have been a short squeeze

Oscar Williams-Grut

Genesis Trading looks to go 24/7 as demand in an opaque corner of the crypto market booms

Frank Chaparro

A secretive Chicago trading firm has built a bitcoin platform that shows crypto is shaking off its scrappy roots

Frank Chaparro

What you need to know on Wall Street today

Olivia Oran

eToro is setting up a crypto trading desk for hedge funds and banks

Oscar Williams-Grut