Genesis Trading sees establishment 'land grab' for crypto

Genesis Trading thinks the second quarter the year will be remembered as the time when the establishment came running on a "land grab" for crypto.

In a report released Wednesday, the digital assets financial firm and subsidiary of Digital Currency Group highlighted a number of "landmark announcements" including the slew of applications for spot bitcoin ETFs and a "drumbeat" of new trading venues and products offered by traditional finance.

"Just as crypto mainstays like Coinbase rolled out new offerings, Q2 also heralded the arrival of an establishment armada which appears now to be docked on the shores of this asset class," it wrote. 

But it also noted a tendency toward "skeptical reception."

"The truth is in the statistics about volumes, volatility, margins, price trends, and the breadth of participation," it wrote in the report. "When viewed with an elongated perspective, Q2 2023 appears, therefore, to be affirmative in most respects."

Specifically, the firm pointed to a "far more significant amount of activity than might have been expected" as bitcoin mostly traded range-bound between $27,000 and $30,000.

Regulatory scrutiny

Genesis, however, noted the tough legal challenges brought in the past few months, which saw the Securities and Exchange Commission suing both Coinbase and Binance for alleged legal and securities violations. 

“It is becoming increasingly clear that as long as there is regulatory scrutiny without clear guidance on rules and regulations, financial services firms will continue expanding their operations abroad," Genesis added.