DeFi - Indirect Crypto Investing | Edition #53 - 6th Feb, 2022
Osborne Saldanha
Investor | Lead at This Week in Fintech Asia | DM at superdm.me/osborne
gm Insiders, Osborne here.
Welcome to the 53rd edition of Fintech Inside. Fintech Inside is the front page of Fintech in emerging markets.
Welcome to the 150+ new subscribers from Japan! If there's a topic you'd like me to discuss in this newsletter, please write to me .
In the previous edition , I introduced DeFi and the various methods to directly invest in crypto. For this edition, we have a guest post covering indirect ways to get exposure to crypto assets.
As you make yields on that sweet sweet crypto asset pie, make sure you leave a piece for the government. This edition also covers details and takeaways on India's proposed crypto tax that was announced this week.
Aside: I don't know if it's just me but I've been coming across very less fintech related news lately. Everything these days is crypto/DeFi/Web3 related. If you think I've missed out on something, please let me know?
Enjoy another week in fintech!
If you’re an early-stage fintech startup founder raising funding, I'd love to speak to you - reach out to me at?[email protected]
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?? One Big Thought
DeFi - Part 2 | Investing in cryptocurrencies indirectly
(This is a guest post by Anshu Agrawal , founder of Flint . All views are those of the author.)
Disclaimers:
Over the past ten years, Bitcoin has made its presence felt with the crypto sector evolving from a retail-driven market to one sought out by institutional investors. Crypto funds under management have increased multifold from just under $5 bn in 2017 to $60 bn in 2022. Hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds, and pension funds have all been accumulating cryptocurrencies. Behemoths like Black Rock, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Soros Fund Management, BNY Mellon, and many others have been active transacting in the crypto sector, especially over the last two years.
However, the general perception around crypto investment is based on limited awareness. Although one can easily buy and sell crypto assets today, there is no regularization and supervision that can protect traders from frequent price manipulation and fraud.
Institutional investors and professional investors account for less than 5% of traders in this space but account for more than 85% of market trading activity. High price volatility can keep a wary retail investor away. However, there are opportunities to invest through stable coins, for example USDC, Tether, and more, that are free from price fluctuations and can be leveraged to earn steady returns. Stable coins play a significant role across the ecosystem of the centralized finance "CeFi" and the decentralized finance or "DeFi" space; stable coins grew over 385% in 2021, increasing their circulation from $30 bn to over $140 bn by the year-end.
What if you are bullish on cryptocurrencies in the long term and want exposure after the rise of Bitcoin but unsure about the intricacies involved and how to go about investing? Is there a way of investing in crypto assets, earn an yield with low risks without actually trading in cryptocurrencies?
Fortunately, yes there are ways!
Ways to Invest Indirectly in Cryptocurrencies
Earning passive income from crypto investment: Passive exposure to crypto investment is one of the best ways to earn steady returns from cryptocurrencies without falling prey to the risks associated with direct investment. Although limited, some crypto investment apps offer investors a product to earn steady returns or passive income by investing their money in stable coins like Tether (USDT), or USD Coin (USDC). There are a few startups coming up these days that help you ride the upside of crypto passively, without having to go through the complexity. Pioneered by BlockFi in the US, a bunch of projects for example Celsius, Nexi, Vauld, Flint, Pillow etc. have launched with their own value props. Flint, for example, converts the pooled funds into stable cryptocurrencies and lends it out to carefully chosen institutional borrowers, and also diversifies into DeFi protocols to generate returns on idle cash.
Investing in companies holding cryptocurrencies: There are many listed companies that hold a substantial chunk of crypto assets. It signifies that these companies are very bullish on cryptocurrencies' future. For example, Tesla-founder Elon Musk revealed in February 2021 that the company had bought Bitcoin, showcasing that firms were willing to try and onboard cryptocurrencies onto their balance sheets. As of mid-Dec 2021, Tesla held around $1.31 bn in digital assets, which is almost 2.5% of the company's total assets. You can use this as a buffer and invest in buying stocks of these companies.
The catch, however, is that you will be earning from the stock valuation of these companies and not directly from the crypto assets they are holding. For example, you will earn capital gains as Tesla's stock price rises even when there is nothing favorable from the digital asset the company is holding. Furthermore, if the price of the cryptocurrency rises, this will increase the valuation of Tesla's stock, ultimately turning out to be a profit on your investment. Others that are traded on US stock exchanges include Microstrategy, which holds over 125,000 BTC, Square holding 8,027 BTC, Meitu holding 940 BTC, and many more.
Here is an overview of the stocks' performance of the top crypto-holding companies:
Many of these companies that have a large amount of cryptocurrency holding at their disposal are not even directly involved in the crypto industry, at least not how they started. For example, Tesla is primarily an EV maker, and MicroStrategy Inc. deals mainly in business intelligence software.
领英推荐
Publicly Traded ETFs: The demand for crypto ETFs is increasing day by day. As of now, we have several blockchain and crypto-based ETFs to invest in and many are on their way. Such ETFs, based on blockchain, i.e. Crypto Futures, or even Crypto Assets, are still correlated to crypto market risks. For example, we have ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO), which is a bitcoin-linked ETF scheme and gives investors the opportunity and exposure to Bitcoin returns in an easy and convenient way.
You can also invest in blockchain ETFs if you want to keep direct market risks at bay. Blockchain ETFs are funds that invest in companies investing/working in blockchain technologies. Therefore, you are not actually purchasing any crypto asset, instead, investing money in the prospect of growth of the blockchain technology. Sachin Bansal’s Navi also launched a Blockchain ETF in Dec, 2021. Some examples of blockchain ETF’s and their performance:
Investing in Companies Involved in Cryptocurrencies/Blockchain: Okay, so you are keen on exploring cryptocurrencies in general but do not want to bet on specific crypto assets. What's the way out? You can invest in companies involved in cryptocurrency mining or building crypto infrastructure and whose stocks are traded on exchanges. HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd, HUT 8, and Riot Blockchain Inc are some listed companies involved in crypto mining or developing blockchain infrastructure, whose stock prices have increased substantially in the past few years.
Another example is that of Nvidia, a leading global GPU manufacturer. GPUs are one of the essential components of cryptocurrency mining. Miners use high-performing or specialized GPUs to complete blockchain transactions and mint digital currencies. Therefore, if the demand for cryptocurrencies increases, we will see a subsequent rise in demand for such GPUs. This will help in the revenue generation of the company, which will be further reflected positively in its stock's price.
In this way, you can earn from the booming crypto market in general without the need for directly buying one or a few cryptocurrencies.
Bottom Line: We are accelerating into a digitized and decentralized future. Crypto is going to entangle itself with the mainstream financial markets; its accessibility amplified in 2021 and traditional investment firms ventured with the rollout of several fund vehicles to target retail investors, investment advisors, and other allocators. Investing according to your risk appetite is very important while putting money in the crypto market. It is generally advised to start with smaller amounts and see which investment instrument or method is allowing you to grow your money. Besides, it is very important to keep learning while making investments.
One can rely on stable coins, which are cryptocurrencies but backed by material assets, which imparts a high level of stability in their price. Thankfully, we now have such platforms that give us the opportunity to earn steady returns from crypto investments.
About Flint: Flint is a global crypto investment app, which brings together passive income generating opportunities in the crypto market. Flint is ideal for investors looking to get crypto exposure but do not have enough time to do active buying/selling of tokens. Founded in October 2021, the company currently offers a simple and stable income opportunity where users can earn up to 13% p.a. on their deposited funds. Flint doesn’t expose users to volatile crypto assets like Bitcoin or Ethereum. It only deals with stable cryptocurrencies like USDT, USDC, etc., that are free from crypto price fluctuations.
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3?? Fintech Top Three
(There was no material event in fintech this week so there's not much to discuss. Enjoy, instead, the only topic that made waves.)
1?? Virtual Digital Assets are not legal in India, but also not illegal
India's finance minister at her Budget for 2022 speech, announced a proposal to introduce: 1) a 30% tax on income from Virtual Digital Assets (VDA), 2) a 1% TDS on transfer of these assets in the hands of the buyer, and 3) Introduction of a "Digital Rupee" via the Indian central bank. The proposal is expected to come into effect from 1st April, 2022. VDA includes cryptocurrencies and NFT's.
Takeaways:
On legality: This is a bittersweet moment for Indian crypto community. On one hand - this is the only time the government has acknowledged cryptocurrencies formally. There has been talk of a crypto law for some time now, but nothing's happened so far. I'd rely on this event for a direction only. On the other hand - the government merely acknowledging something, less so by taxing it, does not make it legal. So technically, cryptocurrencies are not legal in India.
On taxation: The Indian government, by putting a 30% tax rate on income from sale of Virtual Digital Assets (VDA), has put trading in these digital assets at par with lotteries, horse race betting and more. IMO, that's not a good sign. Aside from the tax rate being prohibitively high, being likened to a "game of skill" will further put VDA's in a regulatory grey area. In any exchange, "traders" are typically few in number but easily account for 70-85% of transaction volumes. The tax rate, without any deductions or set offs, will dissuade traders from trading in India. This might actually be a deterrent for traders and therefore be problematic for the growth of these exchanges. If you really want to be optimistic about this crypto tax, you could probably stretch your imagination to think that, directionally, the government supports Exchanges and could potentially allow stock exchanges/brokers to support digital assets as well. Imagine buying Ethereum on Zerodha. In the 39th Edition of Fintech Inside , I proposed that digital asset exchanges should be structured as the yet to be launched “Gold Spot Exchange” (GSE) in India.
Under the garb of wanting to track transactions, the government is further imposing a 1% TDS on all "transfers" in the hands of the seller on the total amount of the "transfer". As this twitter thread posits, this TDS is easier to navigate if the buyer and seller are resident Indians, what if the buyer is non-Indian? Moreover, given all of this happens on the blockchain and users are typically anonymous, how will one identify nationality? I suppose implementing this crypto tax is going to be a nightmare for everyone involved.
When the crypto tax news broke out, I tweeted if this if it is indeed going to legitimise crypto in India or is this just a way for the government to take their pound of flesh from this booming sector. Why ban something when you can earn taxes from it, I guess.
On the digital rupee: The Budget speech mentioned that the Indian central bank is expected to start pilot testing a digital rupee as early as this quarter. It didn't have any further details about the digital rupee. Technically, there was nothing new. This same announcement was made by the Indian central bank (RBI) in July, 2021, although informally via a speech by the deputy governor. Even back then, the RBI just discussed it's various considerations at a very high level without offering any details. In the Fintech Inside edition #30 as on July, 2021 , I covered the key considerations of this digital rupee:
"This Digital Rupee will also be tested across retail and wholesale applications "with no disruptions". RBI says the main considerations for the roll out will be: 1. ledger technology - distributed or centralised, 2. validation mechanism - token based or account based, 3. distribution architecture - distributed by banks or RBI and, 4. degree of anonymity."
?? International
LooksRare, an NFT marketplace, reportedly saw $8.3bn of wash trading out of $9.5bn in total trading volume on the platform. VISA claimed that customers made $2.5bn in payments with its crypto-linked cards in its last quarter. Apple is working on a service that will let businesses or users accept payments directly via the iPhone.
Looking for the news digest? Read all the week’s fintech news and updates in India and SEA over at This Week in Fintech - India and SEA Edition .
??? Other Notable Nuggets
?? Song on loop
Discovered this fun song by Joe Jonas (never thought I would recommend a Jonas song) which is a soundtrack for the movie Rumble. The song is Go it alone (Spotify / Youtube ) - enjoy your Sunday!
???? That's all Folks
If you’ve made it this far - thanks! As always, you can always reach me at [email protected] . I’d genuinely appreciate any and all feedback. If you liked what you read, please consider sharing or subscribing.
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See you in the next edition.