It’s worth noting that cryptocurrencies are indeed becoming more and more popular in normal life, that is, outside of the blockchain community. Proof of this is the recent addition of a Google countdown timer prior to the merger of the Etherium network, i.e. its move to the Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm.

Google’s countdown to merger block on the Etherium network

By the way, the update itself has already taken place, so Etherium is now officially PoS-based. That said, the update has gone as smoothly as possible.

Who invests in the cryptocurrency

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Andersson admitted that major Australian institutions and, in particular, pension funds are not yet showing signs of significant interest in the cryptocurrency industry. Here’s his rejoinder.

This is still just the beginning. So yes, we are in talks with many family offices in Australia and smaller institutions. The big industry superfunds haven’t come into the cryptocurrency market yet. From their perspective, the industry needs to be explored more deeply. I am sure this process will take some time.

So in the end, the expert's position is that the cryptocurrency industry is a new niche, so many people haven't had time to get involved - let alone interact with it properly.

The low interest in crypto is a direct consequence of the rapid market decline over the past few months. Although Bitcoin has been showing local growth several times since early summer, recent US inflation data has led to another precipitous collapse of BTC to the $20,000 support level. In other words, few big investors see the prospect of a bull run in the near term and are in no hurry to replenish their own coin holdings beforehand.

Bitcoin exchange rate

For now, market sharks have taken a wait-and-see stance, but the situation will change dramatically as soon as some of them take a big risk, Andersson believes. He continues.

Nobody wants to be the first in something like this. Because if you’re the first and things go wrong, there’s a risk to your career. At some point this trend will change dramatically. When cryptocurrency prices go up, people will not want to miss their chance. And if others start investing, then passivity will become a career risk.

The expert’s opinion is exactly the same as the reality. Recall that in August 2020, analyst giant MicroStrategy first announced a major investment in Bitcoin. A few months later, electric car manufacturer Tesla made a similar announcement. This news set off a domino effect: the price of Bitcoin then began to skyrocket, and because of the bull run, other institutions also wanted to “join the fun”.

The chart in green shows BTC buying rounds by MicroStrategy management

Read also: Cryptocurrency exchange chief named the main reason for this year's drop in markets. What is it?

Several large banks in Australia like ANZ, NAB and Commonwealth Bank (CBA) have already set up research teams to look into the prospects for the digital asset sector. CBA was the first major bank in the country to announce last year that it was offering crypto-related services through its mobile app. Unfortunately, the bank’s management later shelved the plans and said it was still waiting for clarity on crypto regulation from the new government.

This chart shows Bitcoin’s growth to the bull run of 2021 and the moments of institutional players investing in the coin

Other banks have made notable headway in trading in staplecoin and tokenised assets. Internationally, major banking conglomerates too are continuing to grow their digital asset businesses, even despite the bearish trend. Here’s a quote.

Every major investment bank in the world is writing research reports on the crypto industry. Everyone from Goldman Sachs to Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JP Morgan and others. So there is certainly still a lot of interest from such institutional players in this area. So even though it seems to be going very slowly right now, once the market sentiment changes, we will quickly see the first major investments coming in.

Buying crypto assets


We believe that digital assets will indeed become globally popular over time - and among professional investors as well. In the early days, cryptocurrencies were heavily criticised and attributed all sorts of sins, which affected the reputation of the coins. That's why today some people distant from the blockchain world see cryptocurrencies as pyramid schemes and other negative things. Whatever the case may be, the situation will improve over time. And because of their strong fundamentals, cryptocurrencies will have their place in investors' portfolios.


What do you think about it? Share your opinion in our Millionaire Crypto Chat. We talk about other topics there as well.