Survey Says 20% of Banks, Hedge Funds Want to Trade Crypto

There is some good news on the cryptocurrency adoption and liquidity fronts. A new Thomson Reuters survey indicates 20% of banks and hedge funds want to get into trading digital currencies.

“One in five firms are considering trading digital currency in the next three to 12 months, according to a Thomson Reuters survey published Tuesday,” reports CNBC. “Of those that showed interest, about 70 percent said they were planning to trade in the next three to six months, and 22 percent said they would look to trade crypto in 6 to 12 months.”

Twenty percent is a significant improvement over some other recent data points pertaining to crypto adoption and use among professional investors. For example, a recent survey of attendees at the Context Summits conference in Miami revealed that 11% planned to allocate to cryptocurrencies this year.

Making Moves

“Thomson Reuters surveyed more than 400 clients across its trading solutions, which included hedge funds, large asset managers, and trading desks at the biggest banks. The results showed a widespread familiarity with cryptocurrencies,” reports CNBC.

News of more banks and hedge funds looking to get into the crypto games comes amid a backdrop of soaring crypto hedge fund openings, though some of those hedge funds have already been shuttered. On Monday, Goldman Sachs, the largest investment bank, said it made its first hire for its digital asset markets business.

Due to the recent resurgence in bitcoin, the largest digital currency, and other alt-coins, the digital currency market eclipsed a combined market value of $420 billion earlier Tuesday, up from around $300 billion just a few weeks ago.

“Banks are examining client interest and several hedge funds have tried their hand trading virtual currencies,” according to Reuters. “Large falls in cryptocurrency prices this year, however, have encouraged critics to warn again that the market is a bubble and that investors should stay away.”