New analysis (1) by Nickel Digital Asset Management (Nickel), Europe’s leading regulated and award-winning digital assets hedge fund manager founded by senior traders and investment professionals formerly from major financial institutions including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, reveals that 18 listed companies with a market cap of over $826 billion have around $3.1 billion invested in digital assets.
They originally spent $5.9 billion buying these assets.
There is a notable US and Canadian bias in these allocations. Of the 18 listed enterprises reviewed, 11 are US and Canadian companies, 4 are European, one is Turkish, one is from Hong Kong and one is Australian.
Analysis reveals a further 21 listed companies have purchased Bitcoin, without revealing the full details of their portfolio composition at this stage.
Further analysis reveals a staggering $21.8 billion worth of bitcoin is held through various bitcoin closed-ended trusts and exchange traded products. These investment funds hold these allocations on behalf of their clients, including a range of retail investors, asset managers, and - increasingly - institutional asset allocators.
The geography of these funds exhibits a similar strong North American bias, with US and Canadian funds accounting for overwhelming 14 of the above holdings.
Nickel expects more companies to explore diversification their balance sheet through allocation to digital assets as inflation takes hold, non-US currencies struggle, and digital asset prices look increasingly attractive following a multi-month correction cycle. Its recent survey (2) of 200 professional investors from across seven countries who collectively manage over $2.2 trillion in assets, found more than two out of three (67%) believe the current crypto winter is either over or has less than six months to run. This consists of 9% of respondents that believe the crypto bear market is already over and 58% saying it will end within six months, at the latest.
Not all professional investors surveyed are optimistic about the crypto and digital asset market in 2023, the research found. Around 27% questioned expect the bear market to last up to a year from now while 7% expect it to last more than a year.
Anatoly Crachilov, CEO at Nickel Digital, commented: “There is a growing list of corporations that have exposure to digital assets as part of their treasury reserve strategies. This, coupled with several leading global fund managers initiating exposure to the asset class is an important - even if still cautious - endorsement for the sector.”
“Although digital assets have experienced a strong price correction in the recent months, the survey results point out to a growing investors’ expectations in reversal of the trend, with performance of digital assets comfortably outpacing inflation over the long run.”