Despite Slowdown, Crypto Is Attracting New Group – Institutional Investors – Hypepotamus

Depending on your exposure to crypto, the past few months have been a wild ride. Bitcoin plunged in value as companies like Celsius made international headlines for unethical lending practices.

But all is not bleak for players in the decentralized financial space. Actually Crypto Veteran Ryan DeMattia noticed a positive change recently.

In years past, crypto conferences were filled with the proverbial “crypto bros” and others interested in finding the next “big” digital coin to buy.

“The year, [conferences] are filled with banks and pension funds and university funds. You would never think that these big, very slow investors would be interested in this kind of high risk environment, but they are all starting to recognize the opportunities with things like internet bond models or like payout income models. And it was really great to see.

Although there is still uncertainty in the market, the fact that such institutional players are playing in the space means that crypto is coming out of its “Wild West” phase.

“One of our mantras is that crypto isn’t just for cowboys anymore,” DeMattia added. “A year ago, people were just trying to get rich in DeFi and throw their money into DAOs and small crypto projects.”

Now, the total number of decentralized transactions reaches more than 11 billion per week.

DeMattia and his team at Coindex Capital Management navigated this “Wild West” and is now helping more institutional investors navigate the crypto and general decentralized finance space. The Atlanta-based investment management company uses its proprietary technology platform to manage various funds.

His approach has already attracted interest from major institutional investors looking for safer exposure to the crypto and DeFi space.

To date, Coindex has landed $30 million in outside investment.

“We see this as a sign that the company has a lot of longevity…we’re not just going for the edge cases [in crypto]“, added DeMattia.

Atlanta’s Crypto Universe

It’s hard to overstate how quickly Miami has become a leader in crypto and blockchain. Hardly a week goes by without a seed startup landing a multi-million dollar investment round or the city government making another big play to sustain the ecosystem.

But DeMattia is confident that Atlanta can claim its position as a financially stable crypto hub.

“Atlanta is a great place to run a business. And what’s really interesting is that over the last year I’ve seen the crypto community really start to emerge here. And that makes sense because you have this awesome talent pool…a lot of really talented kids who want to get into this space. You also have many large financially oriented companies that could help boost [the sector]. We’re not going to be like Miami, which is the very flashy side of crypto. But process 30,000 transactions per second? It feels like Atlanta speed,” DeMattia told Hypepotamus.

Still, there is a reason for caution around the crypto space given the changing regulatory landscape. “Last year, [people in crypto] probably a little on our skis,” DeMattia added, nodding to the fact that many parts prices were inflated and more people were entering the space.

As DeMattia and the Coindex team look to the future, he said there is a need for more “clear and strong guidelines, where the regulation is going…and who is going to regulate it.”

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This content is provided for informational purposes only, and not as investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset or security, or to engage in any specific investment strategy.. Further, this content does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of Coindex Capital, LLC.

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