Investment giants who manage trillions of dollars in assets are interested in Bitcoin and blockchain

(Picture from the Internet)

Has Bitcoin become a mainstream asset class? Last night, a group of investment tycoons with a total asset management scale of more than $1 trillion gathered at a conference to discuss this topic.

The conference seemed ordinary enough, but the fact that the nearly 110 participants, including panelists and audience members, were investors from family offices ^[1] , hedge funds, or private equity firms made it particularly special.

Myles Edwards, a representative of ultra-high-net-worth individuals and co-founder of the New York-based Family Office Private Equity Roundtable, said his firm held the conference specifically to better understand digital currencies.

Edwards told CoinDesk:

“What really piqued our curiosity tonight is that there is a clear synergy and a clear connection between what’s happening in the digital currency world and the financial services world. And this will be the catalyst that will lead us to a new generation.”

Edwards, who is also general counsel for financial advisory firm Shufro, Rose & Co., said he could not pinpoint specific hedge funds that have started investing in the asset class. But he added that high-net-worth members of the roundtable have endorsed the asset class.

“There are legitimate hedge funds and private equity funds that are ready to invest in this asset class,” he said. “They’ve looked into it, and it’s getting attention.”

According to foreign media reports, in 2014, Bitcoin beat the Russian ruble and was named the worst performing asset class. But in 2015, the cryptocurrency was barely included in the list of best or worst investments.

So far this year, Bitcoin's price has fluctuated between $358 and $458, and is currently around $418.

Future Possibilities

The meeting, held at the newly opened Citco Gateway office building on Park Avenue by blockchain consultancy Agentic Group, focused on financial regulatory issues surrounding bitcoin investments and HIPAA regulatory concerns for healthcare-related applications of blockchain.

In attendance were professional blockchain and cryptocurrency asset management industry consultants, as well as more traditional organizations such as FINRA/SEC chartered broker Young America Capital and Breckenridge Insurance Group.

Rik Willard, managing director and founder of Agentic Group, said that while some family office investors are still hesitant to invest in Bitcoin and blockchain-related products, hedge funds have been paying more and more attention to the asset class in the past two years.

“You don’t hear a lot about blockchain among family office investors, and you don’t hear about Bitcoin, and there’s a reason for that. VCs have their own way of looking at this market,” Willard said. “But there are trillions of dollars of money waiting to see what this is going to be, and to walk away from this untapped, unsolved market is, in my opinion, a waste.”

Original article: http://www.coindesk.com/family-offices-securitized-bitcoin/
By Michael del Castillo
Translator: Overnight porridge
Source (translation): Babbitt Information (http://www.8btc.com/family-offices-bitcoin)