Investing.com – Bullish sentiment is growing across the crypto ecosystem, as highlighted by last Thursday's State of Cryptocurrency Summit in New York City, hosted by Coinbase (NASDAQ:).
According to HC Wainwright, the event featured panel discussions with executives from Coinbase, BlackRock (NYSE 🙂, ARK Invest, and others, covering key topics such as BTC spot ETFs, payments and stablecoins, tokenization of real-world assets, and politics. .and regulatory environment in the US and abroad.
Institutional interest in cryptocurrencies is increasing, but their adoption is still in the early stages. The approval and launch of BTC spot ETFs in the US in January catalyzed a massive price rally for and other digital assets this year.
Meanwhile, HC Wainwright sees three positive near-term catalysts for the crypto industry: approval of BTC spot ETFs by large brokerages and investment advisory platforms, greater regulatory clarity in the US . and the launch of ETH spot ETFs. “Institutional interest is certainly increasing, but we are still in the early days of adoption,” noted HC Wainwright.
US BTC Spot ETFs have collectively attracted over $15 billion in net inflows in just five months and now manage $63.5 billion in total assets under management (AUM). Coinbase acts as custodian for approximately 90% of these US spot ETF assets. According to Samara Cohen, chief investment officer of ETFs and index investments at BlackRock, “80% of total inflows to date have come from retail investors.” “.
Most large US brokerage and investment advisory platforms are still undergoing due diligence before approving these products for client portfolios. There are approximately 15,000 registered investment advisors (RIAs) in the United States who manage a combined wealth of $114 trillion for their clients. Even a small portfolio allocation of this enormous pool of wealth could impact an asset class with a combined market capitalization of $2.4 trillion.
HC Wainwright further details that stablecoins settled $10 trillion in total volume, surpassing the total transaction volume of Mastercard (NYSE:), the world's second-largest payments network. According to BlackRock, “56% of Fortune 500 companies are actively working on blockchain projects.” BlackRock has also tokenized real-world assets on the blockchain and now has the largest tokenized treasury fund, the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), with $382 million in AUM. Data from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) projects that tokenized assets will reach $16 trillion by 2030, up from $310 billion in 2022.
HC Wainwright reiterated his Buy rating and $315 price target for Coinbase, reflecting a 12.5x EV/revenue multiple on the 2024 total revenue estimate of $6.3 billion. The risks of this bullish stance include concentration of retail revenues, volatility in cryptoasset values, a dynamic regulatory environment, and intense competition.
