Latest news with #GerryO'Shea
CNBC
4 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Bitcoin is expected to rally further. Here's how the pros are investing
Bitcoin had an eventful week. The cryptocurrency surged past the $120,000 threshold for the very first time on Monday as crypto investors anticipated U.S. legislation that could could boost institutional demand. Bitcoin rose over 3% to a record high of $123,153.22 on Monday , but has since lost some steam. It was seen up 1.08% at $119,833.56 at 3:45 a.m. ET on Friday, according to CoinMarketCap . The pullback in prices came after cryptocurrency-related bills were blocked in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, with 13 Republicans voting with Democrats to block the motion in a 196-223 vote. Bitcoin prices started picking up again late Wednesday after some " no" votes flipped to yesses , and the chamber approved the rules of debate for three crypto bills. Those include a bill to regulate stablecoins , a crypto market structure bill, and a bill prohibiting the U.S. Federal Reserve from issuing its own digital currency. Market watchers CNBC Pro spoke to remain bullish on bitcoin and see potential for the cryptocurrency to climb even further in the rest of the year. "The most notable thing to me is that bitcoin has been closing at over $100,000 for the last two months. I think it is a very clear sign of both retail and institutional interest in this asset," said Gerry O'Shea, head of global market insights at crypto index fund Hashdex. "Bitcoin's sustained strong performance has seen investors looking beyond questions like its volatility to really start asking questions about what's going on with this asset," he added. Bitcoin has surged over 28% since the start of the year, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Gold — a classic safe-haven asset — has risen around 27%, while the broad-based S & P 500 index has added just 7.07% in the same time. Bitcoin-focused ETFs have also gained a lot of interest this year. For instance, the net asset value of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF has returned 27.69% this year as of July 14 , significantly higher than the 7.31% generated by the investment management firm's iShares Core S & P 500 ETF . "Bitcoin is maturing as an asset. It is now the world's seventh largest asset and second largest commodity behind gold, making it too large to ignore," said Matt Kaufman, senior vice president and head of ETFs at Calamos Investments, citing data from CoinMarketCap. Given its "low correlation with traditional assets," bitcoin acts as a "diversification mechanism," he added. Higher prices O'Shea expects bitcoin prices to hit $140,000 by the end of the year. That represents a nearly 17% surge from current prices. His optimism is fueled by the conversations around regulatory approvals for bitcoin. And bitcoin's role as a store of value has also grown this year following a weakening U.S. dollar as well as the U.S.' high fiscal debt, which remains in the trillions , O'Shea noted. He added that speculation over Jerome Powell's position as chairman of the Federal Reserve — in light of U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to fire him and subsequent denials — has also been "really good" in boosting investments in risk assets such as bitcoin. Looking at these factors collectively makes his $140,000 estimate a "pretty reasonable call," O'Shea said. That, however, is still lower than calls by others who expect it to hit $160,000 or even $210,000 in the next few months . How to invest While bitcoin's blistering rally has piqued investor interest, concerns about the volatility of the digital asset and whether it is headed for a bubble still persist. Calamos' Kaufman notes that the volatility in bitcoin has historically been three to five times that of the S & P 500 index. He estimates that the cryptocurrency's volatility can be as high as 60% a year, remarkably higher than the 13% to 14% for gold. As for returns, bitcoin can fluctuate between gains or losses of around 40%, while that of the S & P 500 benchmark typically hover around 10% to 12%, Kaufman noted. "With high risk comes high reward - that is no different for bitcoin. That's why investors want to be a part of the asset class, but don't necessarily want to be part of the risks," Kaufman added. He suggests investing in bitcoin through ETFs, which offer "protected or risk-managed versions" of an asset that is regulated by an exchange board. Hashdex's O'Shea, likewise, said ETFs are a more stable way of getting exposure to bitcoins than having self-custody of the asset. Both Calamos and Hashdex offer bitcoin-focused ETFs, such as Calamos Bitcoin Structured Alt Protection ETF, Calamos Bitcoin 90 Series Structured Alt Protection ETF, Calamos Bitcoin 80 Series Structured Alt Protection ETF and Hashdex Nasdaq ETF. Calamos' Calamos Bitcoin Structured Alt Protection ETF — which looks to capture upside returns of bitcoin, while protecting against all losses — has returned 1.16% since the start of the year till July 17. Meanwhile, Hasdex's ETF has returned 26.96% so far this year, compared with 27.63% returns of the Nasdaq bitcoin reference price. O'Shea suggested that investors allocate around 1% to 3% of their portfolio to bitcoin for now, with a view to increasing it to around 10% in the next few years.
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitcoin Breaks Fresh Record Topping $113,000
Bitcoin (BTC) clinched a fresh record high above $113,000 on Thursday, attempting to break away from the range it has been trading in for months. The largest and oldest cryptocurrency hit $113,313 during the U.S. session, CoinDesk price data shows. It was up 3.7% over the past 24 hours. The new record comes less than a day after it briefly topped $112,000 on some exchanges, then retreated below $111,000 in the later hours. Bitcoin's rally to new highs was buoyed by strong inflows into ETFs, relentless corporate adoption by crypto treasury companies and an increasingly favorable regulatory climate, Gerry O'Shea, head of global market insights at Hashdex, said in a note. "While the macro environment will continue to remain uncertain, we believe the bull market is far from over and new catalysts, including more institutional platforms allowing access to bitcoin, may help drive the price of BTC to $140,000 or higher this year," he said. The broader crypto market was also climbing higher on Thursday. Ethereum's ether (ETH) topped $2,800 and was up more than 5%, while XRP (XRP) gained 3.5%. The broad-market CoinDesk 20 Index advanced 3.4% to its strongest level since May. UPDATE (July 10, 17:15 UTC): Updates prices. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Financial Advisors Remain Hesitant Towards Bitcoin — But Won't Be for Long
Almost a year and a half after bitcoin BTC spot exchange-traded funds were unleashed upon the U.S. financial system, financial advisors are still trying to wrap their heads around crypto. That's according to Gerry O'Shea, head of global market insights at crypto asset manager Hashdex. 'The overwhelming majority of financial advisors in particular are not recommending an allocation to bitcoin or crypto to their clients at this point,' O'Shea told CoinDesk in an interview. 'Of course, there are some out there that have been very proactively thinking about this space and getting their clients exposure to it, but that's really a small subset of the overall market," he added. "Most of what we've been doing in the last few years is based around education." Advisors are receptive to all of this, O'Shea said — it's simply that due diligence takes a while, and that they move relatively slowly. In other words, these are still very early days in terms of advisors recommending crypto exposure to their clients. Their questions have moved beyond trying to understand what bitcoin or blockchain is, and now focus more on the role that digital assets can play in someone's portfolio, according to O'Shea. Should it be seen as an equity allocation? Should it replace gold? General scepticism towards the asset class as a whole tends to be confined to older generations of financial advisors. At the top of the list of concerns is volatility. Advisors may be aware that bitcoin is a developing asset with a 16-year track record, but at the end of the day, they may still struggle to stomach the currency's regular 20% or more declines. Anxieties about bitcoin's energy consumption — which were big enough in 2021 for Tesla to stop receiving bitcoin payments — have somewhat receded to second place, O'Shea said. In fact, the narrative around proof-of-work seems to have changed significantly in the last few months, he noted, with people increasingly appreciating that bitcoin mining can help develop renewable energy projects. Coming in third is criminality. Bitcoin is still often seen, even by members of Congress, as a payment system that facilitates drug dealers and sanctions evaders. Financial advisors still bring this up as a point of concern, O'Shea said. For him, there are two main themes in 2025 when it comes to digital assets: bitcoin and stablecoins. And while it isn't as straightforward to gain exposure to the growth of the stablecoin market, he stated that smart contract platforms such as Ethereum and Solana — which provide the infrastructure for stablecoins to function — should become interesting to investors. 'There is certainly real utility for these platforms. A lot of people refer to stable coins as the first killer app, right? Because it's something that intuitively people can understand,' O'Shea said. In any case, the hesitation around bitcoin won't last forever, he predicted. 'These folks are under-appreciating how developed this ecosystem is, and how beneficial an allocation to this asset class can be over the longer term,' he said. 'Even by the end of the year, there'll be a lot more that appreciate that fact.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitcoin spikes to record high on Trump crypto-policy enthusiasm
Bitcoin hit a record high Wednesday morning, rising to a peak of nearly $109,500. Pro-crypto policies and tariff chaos have boosted bitcoin's appeal in recent months. Companies like GameStop and Tesla invest in bitcoin to hedge against inflation. Bitcoin hit a record high on Wednesday, jumping as much as 2.4% to $109,499.76. It's the first record for the world's largest cryptocurrency since January, when the token climbed above $109,200. The latest surge is being driven by a burst of enthusiasm on recent regulatory developments. On Monday, a landmark crypto bill moved ahead in Congress, with proposed legislation aiming to regulate the stablecoin market moving forward in a bipartisan vote. After initial resistance from congressional democrats, the so-called GENIUS Act is now up for debate on the Senate floor, clearing the way toward a legislative win for the industry. But policy enthusiasm extends beyond Capitol Hill. In recent months, bitcoin has climbed on pro-crypto executive orders and the recent passage of legislature to create crypto reserves in New Hampshire and Arizona. "The acceptance and adoption of bitcoin by governments and institutions, many of which are viewing this asset class as an important portfolio diversification tool, paints a very favorable long-term investment outlook for the digital asset ecosystem," wrote Gerry O'Shea, head of global market insights at Hashdex. The coin has also benefited from a broader rally in risk assets since tariff chaos has subsided in recent weeks. With the token up almost 17% year-to-date, bulls expect it to go higher. In the second quarter, Standard Chartered suggested that the token will hit $120,000, while one options wager sees it surging as high as $300,000 by the end of June. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitcoin spikes to record high on Trump crypto-policy enthusiasm
Bitcoin hit a record high Wednesday morning, rising to a peak of nearly $109,500. Pro-crypto policies and tariff chaos have boosted bitcoin's appeal in recent months. Companies like GameStop and Tesla invest in bitcoin to hedge against inflation. Bitcoin hit a record high on Wednesday, jumping as much as 2.4% to $109,499.76. It's the first record for the world's largest cryptocurrency since January, when the token climbed above $109,200. This embedded content is not available in your region. The latest surge is being driven by a burst of enthusiasm on recent regulatory developments. On Monday, a landmark crypto bill moved ahead in Congress, with proposed legislation aiming to regulate the stablecoin market moving forward in a bipartisan vote. After initial resistance from congressional democrats, the so-called GENIUS Act is now up for debate on the Senate floor, clearing the way toward a legislative win for the industry. But policy enthusiasm extends beyond Capitol Hill. In recent months, bitcoin has climbed on pro-crypto executive orders and the recent passage of legislature to create crypto reserves in New Hampshire and Arizona. "The acceptance and adoption of bitcoin by governments and institutions, many of which are viewing this asset class as an important portfolio diversification tool, paints a very favorable long-term investment outlook for the digital asset ecosystem," wrote Gerry O'Shea, head of global market insights at Hashdex. The coin has also benefited from a broader rally in risk assets since tariff chaos has subsided in recent weeks. With the token up almost 17% year-to-date, bulls expect it to go higher. In the second quarter, Standard Chartered suggested that the token will hit $120,000, while one options wager sees it surging as high as $300,000 by the end of June. Read the original article on Business Insider Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
