The Lead

Bitcoin has seen quite a ride the last few weeks. Backing off the recent highs around $65K and then plunging to around $30K wiping out millions of dollars in investor holdings. Choreographed buying opportunity? Government plot to destroy crypto? Or, just a hell-of-a Smackdown playing by wrestling rules?

Last week a huge portion of the Southeast U.S. found itself out of gas. Why? Because Colonial Pipeline, the largest pipeline system for refined oil products in the U.S, suffered a ransomware cyberattack that impacted computerized equipment managing the pipeline. Simply put - no money for hackers, no gas for you.

Crypto is on a roll across the wealth management space, as Wall Street financial institutions, independent broker-dealers and RIA firms increasingly explore how to offer crypto-based financial products and strategies.

Fintech firms are hitting on all cylinders lately, making a splash in some of the trendiest deals in the capital markets and helping to shape the financial industry of the future. In fact, one of the mega IPOs of the year so far involves a payment technology unicorn that is about to become a household name. Whether it’s real estate opportunities, SPAC deals or digital currencies, financial technology companies ranging from mobile banking startups to payments platforms are setting the pace.

Almost anyone can read that headline and immediately know what it refers to; BITCOIN. That definition of Bitcoin is extremely significant because it comes from the newly appointed Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler. Finally, at long last, there is clarity as to how a US regulatory body views Bitcoin along with other cryptocurrencies. Significantly, Bitcoin is separated from other cryptos and considered a 'stand alone' asset.

Speaking last weekend on NBC's "Meet the Press," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ("J-Yell") downplayed any fears that government spending trillions of dollars will lead to inflation. Whew! Nothing better than hearing the calming re-assurance from the Washington. Move along, nothing to see here.

For those of you who haven't gone out to fund-raise to this sector, let me share a little about it with you. You come to an institutional investor with a new strategy - backtested and perhaps even running money currently. They then look at you and ask for a series of greeks on the strategy - deltas, alphas, betas - god knows what else - and then tell you they need you to have a 3 year live track record and at least $200M in AUM before they can continue the discussion.

Feeling sad you missed out on the big money making run up in crypto? Outbid for that digital art NFT? Not invited into that SPAC that just merged with Elon Musk's spaceship? Well, don't despair. There is HUGE money in New Jersey delicatessens.

Property tech “is a good number of years behind the maturity of other spaces. Fintech, for example, has already dramatically re-shaped the world of wealth management, with many traditional wealth management businesses forced to adopt new technologies or fail.”

What do we need to know about the transfer of digital assets to make sure they don't get lost in the ether? According to one study only one in four consumers have someone in their life who knows all their usernames and passwords, so are consumers even prepared to pass on these assets?