Co-founders of 21Shares and Amun share why crypto index products are signs of a maturing industry
Amun Holdings Limited - owner of both 21Shares and Amun, Inc. - introduced the first crypto exchange traded product (ETP) to market back in 2018. Although the collaborative ARK Investments and 21Shares bitcoin spot ETF was recently rejected in the US, 21Shares remains the world’s largest provider of crypto ETPs with 30 unique products currently trading across exchanges. In this episode of The Scoop, recorded at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, 21Shares and Amun co-founders Hany Rashwan and Ophelia Snyder sat down with host Frank Chaparro to discuss the current landscape of crypto ETPs, and explain why they believe the rise of crypto index tokens and crypto basket ETPs are signs of a maturing industry. As Snyder commented during the interview: "'Is bitcoin going to zero this year?' is no longer a continuing ongoing narrative. That changes things. It means that people are starting to look at crypto as an asset class, as an industry, as a theme… It's not, 'ok, will bitcoin now exist?' It’s now: ‘Ok, well crypto is definitely going to exist, so what is the S&P 500 of crypto?’ While 21Shares has the most ETP offerings on the market, other firms are also developing crypto basket products such as Bitwise’s recently announced NFT index fund (though this fund is only available to accredited investors). Given their positions in the market, both Rashwan and Snyder are very aware of the institutional funds flowing into the crypto: something the two have continued to witness despite the market’s drawdown over the last few months. As Snyder explained: “I had a very interesting conversation with one of our lead market makers about a week ago talking about what’s going on in this market actually, and what are they seeing on the trading side, and one of the key takeaways is this: the institutions are actually forming thesis based investment philosophies. So they look at fundamentals… they develop a thesis and they invest.” Episode 30 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami with The Block’s Frank Chaparro and 21Shares and Amun co-founders, Hany Rashwan and Ophelia Snyder. Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to podcast@theblockcrypto.com. This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Fireblocks, Coinbase Prime & Cross River Fireblocks is an enterprise-grade platform delivering a secure infrastructure for moving, storing, and issuing digital assets. Fireblocks enables exchanges, lending desks, custodians, banks, trading desks, and hedge funds to securely scale digital asset operations through the Fireblocks Network and MPC-based Wallet Infrastructure. Fireblocks serves over 725 financial institutions, has secured the transfer of over $1.5 trillion in digital assets, and has a unique insurance policy that covers assets in storage & transit. For more information, please visit www.fireblocks.com. About Coinbase Prime Coinbase Prime is an integrated solution that provides institutional investors with an advanced trading platform, secure custody, and prime services to manage all their crypto assets in one place. Coinbase Prime fully integrates crypto trading and custody on a single platform, and gives clients the best all-in pricing in their network using their proprietary Smart Order Router and algorithmic execution. For more information, visit www.coinbase.com/prime. About Cross River Cross River is powering today’s most innovative crypto companies, with banking and payments solutions you can rely on, including fiat on/off ramp solutions. Whether you are a crypto exchange, NFT marketplace, or wallet, Cross River’s API-based, all-in-one platform enables banking as a service, ACH & wire transfers, push-to-card disbursements, real-time payments, and virtual accounts and subledgers. Request your fiat on/off ramp solution now at crossriver.com/crypto.