Institutions continue to attract attention with their purchases and sales in the aftermath of the crypto money market.
The adoption and widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies has led to global interest in the industry. While many countries are getting closer to the crypto industry, the steps of the institutions have become remarkable. Looking at S&P Global data, institutional investment in crypto has reached $30 billion since 2018.
Before FTX went bankrupt, hundreds of millions of dollars of corporate investments were available in the industry. But lately, the institutional approach to crypto seems cautious.
Enterprise Approaches and FTX
The growing popularity of cryptocurrencies has managed to attract corporate names or organizations to this space. Especially before the time when FTX went bankrupt, thousands of corporate names were heading to the industry. Although the Terra and FTX crises frightened the corporations, they did not discourage the industry.
Tesla and Bitcoin
Looking at the period before FTX, it is seen that giant companies such as Tesla bought Bitcoin. Especially in 2021, Tesla held about $ 1.5 billion in Bitcoin. Tesla CEO Elon Musk touched on cryptocurrencies without exception in every speech and continued his maximalism on Dogecoin. Such an institutional ownership of Bitcoin and the introduction of a memecoin made a huge contribution to the development of crypto.
After the Terra crisis broke out, Tesla changed his stance and set up selling his Bitcoins. In the Terra crisis, which took place on May 11, 2022, the crypto money market faced a loss of close to 45 billion dollars. Announcing its second quarter report right after this event, Tesla announced that it sold three-quarters of its Bitcoins for 936 million. The company, which made a big sale, was an indicator of the withdrawal of the corporates. Looking at the first quarter of this year, Tesla holds approximately $184 million in Bitcoin.
Cathie Wood and Coinbase
Cathie Wood, the founder of Ark Invest, has managed to attract attention with her warm approach to crypto in almost every period. Wood remains Bitcoin maximalist and thinks crypto will do better in the future. Wood’s thought does not stay on the idea. The founder of Ark Invest does not fall off the agenda, especially with his purchases on Coinbase shares.
The crypto market, which has been through many crises, can’t be intimidated by Cathie Wood. Wood is confident that Bitcoin will reach the $1 million mark in the coming years.
This approach of Wood also plays an important role for Ark Invest. Because Ark Invest regularly deals with Bitcoin ETFs.
Cathie Wood highlights her belief in the industry with her stock purchases on the popular crypto exchange Coinbase. Wood has purchased approximately $20 million worth of Coinbase shares since the beginning of this year. Making occasional sales, Wood displays his general orientation as buying and holding.
MicroStrategy and Bitcoin
Michael Saylor’s technology company MicroStrategy has made a name for itself with the purchases it has made on the Bitcoin side. The company, which has been close to Bitcoin for a long time, is one of the institutions that hold the most BTC with strong purchases.
Saylor’s shares on Twitter and the accompanying FOMO were quite high in 2021. But with the onset of the FTX crisis, MicroStrategy’s attitude began to change. The company has made its purchases fewer and slower. Despite all this, the company does not give up buying Bitcoin.
Saylor thinks crypto will always go forward. Saylor’s company MicroStrategy, which continues to be a maximalist, holds 140 thousand BTC. The value of these BTCs corresponds to about 4 billion dollars.
Robinhood and Crypto
Robinhood, located in the US state of California, stands out as a corporate company that has gained popularity with its work in the technology and crypto space. Robinhood has managed to attract all the attention, especially with its progress on the crypto side.
Robinhood has managed to attract thousands of investors with its digital assets and crypto services. In addition, the company stands out with its crypto investments.
Announcing its first quarter report of this year, Robinhood recorded a close to 30 percent drop in revenues in the crypto space. The company slashed its previous earnings of $54 million to $38 million this quarter. However, Robinhood earned close to $441 million in the first quarter of 2023. The role of crypto in this income is quite large.
Apart from these names, many small institutional investors are also focusing on crypto. Institutions, which have invested close to $ 30 billion in the last five years, began to withdraw after the FTX incident. However, the year 2023 signals that institutions may turn to crypto again.
Especially MicroStrategy has started to buy Bitcoin very often in recent months. On the other hand, many institutional companies are also getting involved in crypto through ETFs. In the period before FTX, it can be said that the above institutions and more were enthusiastic about crypto. Institutions trying to get more involved seem to have been impacted by regulatory shortfalls and major crises in crypto. Although this situation is slowly starting to break down, it is a fact that there is not yet an institutional interest like before FTX.