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Bitcoin Cash Demand Shocked Us, Says Circle Trading Chief
Representatives from several trading-oriented cryptocurrency firms took the stage at CoinDesk's Consensus: Invest event.
By Nikhilesh De
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 7:12 a.m. Published Nov 28, 2017, 7:50 p.m.
The pace at which bitcoin cash – the cryptocurrency that forked off the main bitcoin blockchain earlier this year – gained trading volume was "shocking," according to Circle's head of trading.
Speaking during a panel at CoinDesk's Consensus: Invest event in New York, Circle's Dan Matuszewski noted that the startup – which operates a trading desk and today unveiled a new investment-oriented app slated for release next year – was taken aback by the trading demand around bitcoin cash after it went live in early August.
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"Bitcoin Cash got liquid and tradeable instantly, which was shocking to us. It was born out of nowhere … [and] became one of the biggest products we traded," he said.
Matuszewski spoke alongside Adam White, head of Coinbase's GDAX digital asset exchange; Michael Sonnenshein, GrayScale Investment director of sales and business development; and Hu Liang, founder of Omniex. The panel was moderated by Alex Sunnarborg, co-founder of Tetras Capital.
The panel – in part an introduction to the cryptocurrency industry for mainstream investors – focused on some of the challenges and considerations faced by those firms seeking to offer such services. Among those: assessing the legal standing of a particular token ahead of providing tools or resources around it.
On the question of demand among those investors, panelists spoke to what they characterized as a shifting landscape in which institutions are expressing interest – albeit cautiously.
"I think the narrative around this has really changed over the last 12 to 18 months," Sonnenshein said.
GDAX's White notably offered insight into the make-up of its user base.
"Largely by user count, most customers tend to be retail," he told attendees, noting that the trading volume itself is primarily driven by institutional-level customers.
According to Liang, the market remains a nascent one where the institutional investors in question are still largely on the sidelines.
"We haven't reached escape velocity yet," he said.
Disclosure: Grayscale Investments is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, CoinDesk's parent company. Digital Currency Group has an ownership stake in Circle and Coinbase.
Image via Nik De for CoinDesk
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