Bitcoin extended losses for a third day, tumbling as much as 6 per cent Sunday as South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinrail said there was a "cyber intrusion" in its system.
The largest cryptocurrency declined 5.1 per cent to $7,242 as of 5:28pm Hong Kong time, the biggest drop since May 23, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from Bitstamp pricing. That widens Bitcoin’s losses for the year to 48 per cent. Peer cryptocurrencies Ethereum and Ripple fell at least 6.2 per cent.
Coinrail said on its website that it’s reviewing its system due to hacking attempts. The exchange says it has managed to freeze all exposed NPXS, NPER and ATX coins, and that other cryptocurrencies are now being kept in a cold wallet. The statement is the only content available on the exchange’s homepage, and contact information could not immediately be located.
The exchange trades more than 50 different cryptocurrencies and was the 98th largest, with a 24-hour volume of about $2.65 million, according to data from Coinmarketcap.com.
The Bitcoin losses come just days after it was reported ETF providers hoped to have cracked regulators’ code for creating the first exchange-traded product backed by Bitcoin.
Van Eck Associates and SolidX Partners filed a request to list a Bitcoin-linked ETP to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. The fund will be physically-backed, which means it will hold actual Bitcoin, and will be insured against loss or theft of the cryptocurrency, according to the firms.
The SEC asked companies to pull about a dozen applications for cryptocurrency-linked products in January, and last year rejected the Winklevoss BitcoinTrust ETF. SolidX and VanEck were among the companies who had filed to list funds. They hope to have addressed regulators’ concerns with changes they made in the new, joint request by increasing the share price and basing prices off regulated trading firms, according to SolidX chief executive Daniel Gallancy.
“Based on various comments, it seems that regulators are concerned right now about having an ETF that is available to retail investors,” Mr Gallancy said. “We think that will change over time, but right now a good place to start is with a product geared purely toward institutional investors.”
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Hopes for a Bitcoin ETF were running high last year after the CME Group and Cboe Global Marketslisted Bitcoin futures, as investors speculated the SEC might approve funds linked to financial instruments trading on major exchanges. But those expectations soured as regulators said they were concerned about the high volatility and lack of depth in the market, and about pricing and trading that would be based on lightly regulated platforms.
“While I’m still sceptical a Bitcoin ETP gets approved in any form this year, you gotta be in it to win it, and this extra hustle from VanEck could pay off down the road,” said Eric Balchunas, a Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst.
SolidX and VanEck want to address these concerns by basing prices for the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust on an index that tracks over-the-counter trading by US-based institutions, which are regulated by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. MVIS, a subsidiary of New York-based VanEck, will compile the index and publish price updates throughout the day.
VanEck oversees more than $45 billion in assets and manages more than 70 exchange-traded products. SolidX is a New York-based financial technology company, developing cryptography software and capital markets products.
If approved, the product will be priced at 25 Bitcoins per share to target institutional investors, Mr Gallancy said. This would be a change from the focus in the ETF industry, which has traditionally been on individual investors.
The firms haven’t determined fees for the fund yet, but Mr Gallancy said it will probably be on the more expensive side compared with other ETFs, as they’ll be handling the additional risk and hassle of trading cryptocurrency.
SolidX would handle custody of Bitcoin using a so-called cold storage solution, which means so-called private keys that serve as ownership codes are kept off line. Funds will be insured one-to-one by a syndicate of insurers, which the firms didn’t disclose.
VanEck had previously filed a Bitcoin future-based ETF. A physically-backed Bitcoin ETF will be attractive as it tracks Bitcoin spot prices more closely, said the firm’s head, Jan van Eck. Both van Eck and SolidX’s Gallancy say they own Bitcoin.
MATCH INFO
Maratha Arabians 107-8 (10 ovs)
Lyth 21, Lynn 20, McClenaghan 20 no
Qalandars 60-4 (10 ovs)
Malan 32 no, McClenaghan 2-9
Maratha Arabians win by 47 runs
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The years Ramadan fell in May
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The biog
Name: Younis Al Balooshi
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn
Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
SQUADS
UAE
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice-captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan
Nepal
Paras Khadka (captain), Gyanendra Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Pradeep Airee, Binod Bhandari, Avinash Bohara, Sundeep Jora, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Rohit Paudel, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Basant Regmi, Pawan Sarraf, Bhim Sharki, Aarif Sheikh
