Buying bitcoin once meant handing over cash or wiring money to Tokyo, said Henri Arslanian, co-founder of Nine Blocks Capital Management. He described how access has changed, from bank closures to ETFs, stablecoins, and tokenization.
Key Takeaways:
- ETFs give nontechnical investors a way into bitcoin, while crypto natives may still hold their own coins.
- Dubai set up a regulator dedicated to crypto, and many large firms followed.
- Stablecoin supply grew from less than $5 billion to more than $200 billion in about five years.
Arslanian shared his outlook in an interview with CoinShares, the digital asset manager behind the (BRRR ). He discovered bitcoin in 2013 and later helped build the crypto team at PricewaterhouseCoopers. That team at one point included more than 400 people in 25 countries.
Arslanian’s first bitcoin event, held in Hong Kong in early 2014, drew complaints about money laundering, he said. Newcomers struggle to grasp how hard buying digital assets was then. Even so, the cash handoffs and wires were the least of his troubles.
The bigger problem was banks, Arslanian noted. They cut off entrepreneurs working in digital assets with 30 days’ notice. It happened to him multiple times.
Against that backdrop, Arslanian said he believed institutional investors would enter crypto first through regulated fund managers. That view shaped Nine Blocks, which became the first crypto hedge fund licensed by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority.
Dubai created the world’s first regulator dedicated to crypto, giving firms clear rules and a level playing field, Arslanian said. Many large firms followed, and most of his fund’s trading partners are a one-minute walk away.
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Bitcoin ETFs, Stablecoins & Tokenization
Beyond institutions, Arslanian said ETFs suit the average investor, especially people who aren’t technical, and he credited CoinShares with being ahead of the curve. Crypto natives, though, may prefer holding their own coins, much like gold buyers who choose bars at home.
Arslanian turned to stablecoins, which are tokens pegged to the U.S. dollar. Their supply grew from less than $5 billion at the start of 2020 to more than $200 billion in about five years.
In emerging markets such as Turkey and Argentina, Arslanian said, stablecoins give people access to U.S. dollars. Companies also use them for cross-border trade to avoid slow bank transfers.
Arslanian said he was bullish on tokenization as early as 2018 but misjudged the timing. Tokenization means issuing assets such as Treasuries as digital tokens on a blockchain.
See more: Tokenization Gains Ground & ETFs Have Room to Grow
Interest in tokenized Treasuries has since moved faster than he expected, Arslanian said. He still sees it opening assets such as commercial real estate to investors who can’t meet high minimums.
Arslanian also said he trusts many crypto exchanges more than banks, citing their service and round-the-clock access. When he asked a TEDx audience around 2015 whether they enjoyed their banking experience, they laughed.
For more news, information, and strategy, visit the CoinShares Crypto ETF Hub.