Consumer interest in regulated cryptocurrency and blockchain services is soaring. Recently, Swiss private bank Maerki Baumann has had a deluge of 400 new clients wanting to tap its future blockchain offerings since it revealed its interest in the sector.
German bank WEG Bank obtained a cryptocurrency trading and custody in Estonia. WEG Bank confirmed in a tweet published on Aug. 25 that it obtained a crypto trading and custody license in Estonia.
WEG Bank also noted that the institution believes that “working out of a premium regulatory environment is one of” its key assets.
Estonia greenlights German bank to trade and hold crypto
Furthermore, the firm also announced that it is now trying to take hold of a securities trading and custody license in Germany. The bank stated:
“We announce that as of today we have secured full access to a crypto trading and custody license in Estonia and are equally applying for a securities trading and custody license in Germany.”
A bank with multiple crypto partnerships
As Cointelegraph reported in April, browser-based blockchain payments system Nimiq has acquired a 9.9% stake in Germany’s WEG Bank AG. The stake acquisition followed a partnership meant to allow for a crypto-to-fiat bridge that would allow for the seamless exchange of value between crypto and traditional banking systems.
In May of last year, also crypto payments startup TokenPay announced a partnership alongside acquiring 9.9% of share certificates.
90% of Bitcoin Usage is Speculation – 10% Transactions, Says Luno CEO
Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Luno, says that most of its users use Bitcoin as an instrument for investing and speculating. Transacting, however, comprises a small share of the cryptocurrency’s use cases, he explains.
Bitcoin usage: 90% digital gold, 10% digital cash
Swanepoel said during an interview with CNBC published on Aug. 26, that only a small portion of its users buy Bitcoin only then to use it for transactions. Meanwhile, nearly all are either investors or speculators. He explained:
“Roughly about 90% I would put into the category of investments slash speculations, so it could be people who have a long term view on it, people who like to trade it and about 10% would be transactions.”
Portfolio managers should have some exposure
Swanepoel also suggests that – when managing investment portfolios – “it does make sense to put a tiny little bit of money into cryptocurrency.” The reason he provided is that, while risk is high, the potential returns are astronomical.
As Cointelegraph reported yesterday, head of over-the-counter sales at cryptocurrency exchange Kraken Nelson Minier has compared today’s cryptocurrency trading industry to his early days of Wall Street – adding that it is still too soon to call Bitcoin a safe haven for investors.
Nevertheless, Bitcoin is increasingly being mentioned alongside traditional safe haven assets, as Cointelegraph recently reported. With recent data showing that Bitcoin is the least correlated with traditional markets, investors are increasingly considering Bitcoin as a hedge, particularly as central banks around the globe are showing no signs of stopping their policy of monetary easing.
«We are now at a point where I would argue that it is irresponsible for an investor to have 0% exposure to Bitcoin in their portfolio,» Morgan Creek co-founder and Bitcoin permabull, Anthony Pompliano, stated earlier this month.
