10 Traditional Companies Moving Into Crypto Despite Market Slowdown
Large traditional companies have continued to embrace crypto in a variety of ways over the past year, despite the current market downturn.
To keep you updated on who’s doing what to secure their share of the crypto economy, we’ve compiled a list of 10 traditional companies that have recently taken (yet another) step into crypto.
1. JPMorgan
Investment banking giant JPMorganin October this year, access to four funds was rolled out from Grayscale investments and one from Osprey Funds. According to reporting from CNBC, the rollout was a low-profile move by the investment bank, given CEO Jamie Dimon’s previous criticism of crypto.
However, Dimon’s harsh stance on crypto appears to have softened, with the CEO calling blockchain technology and decentralized finance (DeFi) “real, new technologies” in April of this year.
2. Santander
Spanish major bank Santander Groupits Brazilian subsidiary Banco Santander SA said in July of this year that it plans to begin offering crypto-related services to customers “in the coming months.”
“We recognize that it’s a market that’s here to stay, and it’s not necessarily a reaction to competitors positioning themselves, it’s simply a perception that our client has demanded these types of assets, so we need to find the most correct and more educational way to do it,” Santander Brasil CEO Mario Leão said at the time.
3. Blackrock
Great asset manager Black stone in August partnered with the listed crypto exchange Coin base to enable the former’s institutional clients who also own digital assets on Coinbase to use Aladdin, the asset manager’s suite of software tools, to manage their portfolios and conduct risk analysis on investment decisions.
For now, the partnership is focused only on bitcoin (BTC), although Joseph Chalom, Global Head of Strategic Ecosystem Partnerships at BlackRock, said the entire digital asset space is of interest. “Our institutional clients are increasingly interested in gaining exposure to digital asset markets,” he said.
In addition to the Coinbase deal, in August Blackrock also launched its first spot bitcoin private trust. The product is available to US institutional clients and seeks to track the performance of bitcoin, the company said.
4. Schwab Asset Management
Capital manager Schwab earlier this month, Schwab released the Crypto Thematic exchange-traded fund (ETF), citing customer demand as the reason for doing so, CNBC reported.
Commenting on the launch, David Botset, the company’s head of equity products and strategy, called crypto “a very speculative investment,” before adding that the firm sees “certain segments of Schwab investors seeking access to this asset class in their portfolios.”
5. Chipotle
The American fast food chain Chipotle in July of this year unveiled a new interactive game called “Buy The Dip.” The game allows players to win $200,000 in free crypto, as well as $0.01 guacamole and Queso Blanco promo codes until the end of the month. This was seen as a way for a traditional company to make itself more attractive in the eyes of crypto users.
6. Checkout.com
Online payment company Checkout.com announced in June a stablecoin settlement solution for its customers that will initially support USD coin (USDC). Then, in August, the company said it is also exploring a new crypto payout tool that would allow workers to receive their wages in crypto, according to a report from The Block.
7. Fairfax County Retirement Systems
A US$6.8 billion pension fund from Virginia, US, has said it is looking to invest in crypto-loan markets, calling the returns that can be achieved with crypto-yield farming strategies “really attractive.”
Speaking to the Financial Times in August this year, Katherine Molnar, Chief Investment Officer at Fairfax County Police Officers Retirement Systemsaid the fact that some people have now withdrawn from the crypto market amid the downturn means that there are good opportunities for those who remain.
8. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board
Another pension plan organization that seems to be interested in the crypto space is Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, with its investment in the major crypto exchange FTX. The latest investment from Ontario Teachers (they also invested last October) was unveiled by FTX in January of this year, when the exchange said the pension plan board was among the participants in the latest $400 million funding round.
9. Commerzbank
German banking giant Commerzbank earlier this year applied for a “crypto custody license” from the country’s financial regulator, BaFin. If Commerzbank can secure the licence, it will make it the first bank in the country to take a serious step towards adopting digital assets – a major development in the traditionally conservative European banking industry.
10. Fidelity
rendering is another major asset manager that has increasingly taken steps into crypto. And although this company is a well-known player, when it entered the space as early as 2018 when it established Fidelity Digital Asset Services, the investment in crypto has not stopped. Notably, the company made headlines again in April of this year when it decided to allow individual 401(k) retirement plan customers to invest in bitcoin — as long as their employers allow it.
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Learn more:
– South Korea’s SK Securities joins forces with Regional Bank for Crypto Custody, NFT Move
– Hyundai’s Securities Affiliate Adds Crypto Data to Asset Management Platform
– USD 6.8 billion pension fund to invest in the crypto-lending market
– Fidelity Pension Plan will allow employees to invest in Bitcoin
– Teachers in Ontario continue to invest in FTX that is not available in Ontario
– Banking giant Santander to offer crypto trading to Brazilians as crypto ‘is here to stay’
– 10 Brazilian Business Giants That Have Taken the Bitcoin, Crypto Plunge
– Visa rolls out more ‘Bitcoin Cashback’ cards with partners in Brazil, Argentina
