Finance Derivative Magazine Issue 4

Page 12

Finance

consider it as genuine form of payment as a result. Now, we can see major banks testing the crypto waters as they’re simultaneously entering the race to set up their crypto-related operations. Amongst these are the likes of Morgan Stanley and Bank of America launching their own crypto-focused research divisions. State Street revealed their dedicated digital finance division to the public, and following this, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs have started rolling out their own crypto trading assistances and services.

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inancial institutions and investors alike have been divided on the topic of whether cryptocurrencies should be considered as an asset class. This isn’t surprising considering that throughout the course of recent history cryptocurrencies went from regarded as 12

a channel for money laundering to becoming a serious proposition for investors very quickly. It now is not just for the opportune amateur investors that’ve got caught up in the media hype as even big businesses and knowledgeable entrepreneurs including Elon Musk have their eyes on the digital currency and many

Our traditional understanding of an asset in finance terms is generally anything of worth to an individual or company, or more specifically it can be regarded as a resource ‘of value’ that can be, in turn converted into cash. Typically, an asset can often generate cashflows. For instance, stocks can provide dividends, bonds can provide coupons, loans can provide interest, etc. However, there are assets in existence that don’t tend to produce cashflows, but they’re still regarded as an important asset class. For instance, this can include assets such as gold, wine, and even art. Gold is widely considered to be an important asset class by many. This is the


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