Galaxy Digital Sees ‘Substantial Wave’ of Capital Ready for Crypto Investments

Larger institutions are awaiting more regulatory clarity, but a “really substantial wave” of capital is ready to be put to work across the cryptocurrency industry, said Damien Vanderwilt, Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd.’s co-president and head of global markets.

• While every major traditional financial player of note has developed some version of a crypto working group, he said, the “institutional wallet really has not arrived in our sector yet in any meaningful way.”
• Don’t confuse lack of activity in coin segments as lack of willingness or sophistication, continued Vanderwilt, who spoke at Canaccord Genuity’s Digital Assets Symposium on Tuesday. When regulatory issues become more settled, knowledgeable institutional investors will be ready to capitalize.
• Vanderwilt said his conversations with investors suggest many are seeing the recent plunge in crypto prices as a buying opportunity. He said everything is connected these days, and leveraged hedge funds often need to lessen their exposure to crypto during equity market sell-offs.
• Galaxy, he said, estimates the current market cap of all coins in the crypto ecosystem to be just under $3 trillion, excluding areas such as venture investment. Compared with estimates of global wealth of around $450 trillion, that means the total market cap of crypto, excluding venture capital, is only about 40 basis points of total global wealth.
• Galaxy’s Toronto-listed stock gained 5.5% Tuesday amid a modest bounce in the price of bitcoin BTC$90,382.89. For the year, Galaxy stock is lower by 24% as the sector has retreated.