- The investment firm of hedge fund manager George Soros has confirmed it is trading bitcoin.
- "The coins themselves are less interesting than the use cases of DeFi," its CEO told Bloomberg.
- The fund has been looking at investing in cryptocurrencies since 2018.
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The investment firm of the legendary hedge fund manager George Soros has confirmed the fund is, indeed, trading bitcoin.
"We own some coins — not a lot," CEO Dawn Fitzpatrick said during a Bloomberg summit Tuesday. "The coins themselves are less interesting than the use cases of DeFi and things like that."
Soros Fund Management has been looking at investing in cryptocurrencies since 2018. And in July, reports emerged that that the billionaire investor's family office began trading bitcoin.
Fitzpatrick, who is also chief investment officer at Soros, added Tuesday that the world's largest digital asset by market capitalization is more than an inflation hedge.
"I think it's crossed the chasm to mainstream," she said.
The broader financial industry has also begun recognizing cryptocurrencies and the underlying technology for their potential.
Earlier this week, Bank of America analysts launched coverage of digital assets, saying the sector is simply "too large to ignore."
US Bank on Tuesday was the latest bank to announce cryptocurrency-related offerings in the form of a custody service. In July, JPMorgan Chase allowed all its wealth management clients access to crypto funds. A month after, Citigroup said announced it is considering trading bitcoin futures, following Goldman Sachs's lead in May.
John Wu, president of Ava Labs, the team behind altcoin avalanche, told Insider that he is more focused on developing the potential of the crypto space and complying with the regulations once clarity comes.
"Institutional adoption will continue to happen and activity will increase," he said.