Signs of a widening embrace across the financial services industry sent bitcoin to new heights, with the cryptocurrency closing in on US$50,000 for the first time before falling back.
A week after Tesla announced its US$1.5 billion investment in bitcoin, the digital asset continues to make inroads into traditional finance, including news that an investment unit of Morgan Stanley is considering whether to bet on bitcoin. Canada also approved the first North American bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
And there is evidence that more companies are beginning to add services for cryptocurrencies — an asset class that is still lightly regulated and controversial among policymakers. On Thursday, BNY Mellon said it formed a new team that is developing a custody and administration platform for traditional and digital assets. Mastercard Inc has said it will begin allowing cardholders to transact in certain cryptocurrencies on its network.
The combination of luminaries like billionaire Elon Musk and powerhouse banks is adding fresh ammunition to bitcoin’s meteoric gains. The cryptocurrency neared US$50,000 in weekend trading before retreating. Prices are up 40 percent this month, and were at about US$46,800 as of 11am in Hong Kong yesterday.
“The key for bitcoin’s path higher is to win over more corporate endorsements,” Oanda Corp senior market analyst Edward Moya said. “Bitcoin is no stranger to massive weekend moves and the next several days could easily see some wild swings.”
There remains a fierce debate over whether bitcoin is a legitimate asset with any real purpose or value. The token has been derided for its role in money laundering and scams, and recently Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan, said he is getting rid of his bitcoin. A currency is never supposed to be more volatile than what you buy and sell with it, Taleb said on Twitter, adding that you cannot price goods in the cryptocurrency. “In that respect, it’s a failure (at least for now).”
Even so, the price trend has been up, and bitcoin stands as another example of the speculative excesses that are defining this bull market — along with penny stocks and cannabis companies.
There are hints that more Wall Street heavyweights could dip into the crypto market. In an interview with CNBC, JPMorgan Chase & Co co-president Daniel Pinto said that client demand is not there yet on bitcoin, but he’s certain that’ll change.
Bloomberg reported that Counterpoint Global, a unit of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, is exploring whether the cryptocurrency would be a suitable option for its investors, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Moving ahead with investments would require approval by the firm and regulators.
“With each major announcement like the one BNY Mellon made, other institutions are spurred to more rapid adoption and deployment of digital assets,” Patrick Campos, chief strategy officer at Securrency, a developer of blockchain-based financial and regulatory technology, said on Friday.
“Tesla’s recent announcement will embolden other large corporates and institutions to accept crypto as not just a worthy asset class, but perhaps even an essential one,” he said.
Shares in Taiwan closed at a new high yesterday, the first trading day of the new year, as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) continued to break records amid an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, dealers said. The TAIEX closed up 386.21 points, or 1.33 percent, at 29,349.81, with turnover totaling NT$648.844 billion (US$20.65 billion). “Judging from a stronger Taiwan dollar against the US dollar, I think foreign institutional investors returned from the holidays and brought funds into the local market,” Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺) said. “Foreign investors just rebuilt their positions with TSMC as their top target,
REVENUE PERFORMANCE: Cloud and network products, and electronic components saw strong increases, while smart consumer electronics and computing products fell Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted 26.51 percent quarterly growth in revenue for last quarter to NT$2.6 trillion (US$82.44 billion), the strongest on record for the period and above expectations, but the company forecast a slight revenue dip this quarter due to seasonal factors. On an annual basis, revenue last quarter grew 22.07 percent, the company said. Analysts on average estimated about NT$2.4 trillion increase. Hon Hai, which assembles servers for Nvidia Corp and iPhones for Apple Inc, is expanding its capacity in the US, adding artificial intelligence (AI) server production in Wisconsin and Texas, where it operates established campuses. This
H200 CHIPS: A source said that Nvidia has asked the Taiwanese company to begin production of additional chips and work is expected to start in the second quarter Nvidia Corp is scrambling to meet demand for its H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips from Chinese technology companies and has approached contract manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to ramp up production, sources said. Chinese technology companies have placed orders for more than 2 million H200 chips for this year, while Nvidia holds just 700,000 units in stock, two of the people said. The exact additional volume Nvidia intends to order from TSMC remains unclear, they said. A third source said that Nvidia has asked TSMC to begin production of the additional chips and work is expected to start in the second
US President Donald Trump on Friday blocked US photonics firm HieFo Corp’s US$3 million acquisition of assets in New Jersey-based aerospace and defense specialist Emcore Corp, citing national security and China-related concerns. In an order released by the White House, Trump said HieFo was “controlled by a citizen of the People’s Republic of China” and that its 2024 acquisition of Emcore’s businesses led the US president to believe that it might “take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.” The order did not name the person or detail Trump’s concerns. “The Transaction is hereby prohibited,”
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