Citi to Trade Bitcoin Futures?

The Breakdown

On this episode of “The Breakdown”:

• Surveys and reports detailing expected institutional adoption
• Citigroup to trade on the CME
• Global perception of crypto, CBDCs
• NFT and DeFi on the rise
• Bitcoin news from Michael Saylor, Blockstream and Substack

Recent reports from Deloitte and Nickel Digital help set institutional and general public adoption expectations. Of 23 asset managers surveyed by Nickel Digital, more than half expected to increase crypto asset exposure by 2023, and a quarter to increase dramatically. Citigroup is one such investment company toying with BTC as the firm says it will trade bitcoin futures on the CME.

From the global perspective, a Politico survey of U.K. adults revealed a distrust and misunderstanding of CBDCs, while in India, retail crypto investment is up with young citizens looking for alternative ways to make money after strict COVID-19 lockdowns.

Visa’s CryptoPunk purchase fueled an NFT-buying frenzy, resulting in a daily sales volume record for Punks. DeFi on the whole, however, remains powered by experienced crypto enthusiasts, as the technological barrier to entry remains. Will NFTs bring more of the general population into DeFi?

Bitcoin’s rally above $50,000 this past weekend was bolstered by institutional news: Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy’s latest purchase of BTC, Blockstream’s $210 million Series B funding round and Substack’s implementation of bitcoin as a payment option using the Lightning Network. Who’s next?

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“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Tidal Wave” by BRASKO. Image credit: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk.