94% of Universities and Endowment funds have invested in Crypto assets and/or Crypto funds
In a survey of over 150 universities and endowments in Canada, USA and UK, 94% of the respondents said that they had already invested in Crypto assets — 54% have invested directly and 46% using different types of funds. Only 7% said they were looking to reduce their exposure over the next year. The survey, although released recently, was conducted in Q4 2018 i.e. when many Digital Assets prices were considerably lower than they are currently, and sentiment was much more negative to this asset class.
However, the survey revealed that there are still concerns about investing in Digital Assets, such as custody, liquidity, and regulation.
Harvard, with its $39 Billion endowment, is reportedly going to invest $11.5 Million into Blockstack, a crypto company which will be the first Security Token Offering (STO) that will comply with SEC A+ Regulations. Blockstack looks to raise $50 million later this year.
Muneeb Ali, co-founder and CEO of Blockstack PBC, said in the press release:
“Blockstack has been working with securities lawyers to create a legal framework that can enable blockchain protocols to comply with SEC regulations. Our framework is consistent with the latest SEC guidance released last week. Upon qualification, we believe that this offering may be the first time a blockchain project receives approval to access the public U.S. securities markets.”
This is clear evidence institutional investors have been buying Digital Assets. As we see more Security Token Offerings (STOs) being launched, which will be subject to much tighter regulation, custody providers ought to be able offer their services to these types of assets. This is important as the lack of custody providers is another reason cited as why institutions have not significantly invested in Digital Assets to date.
This article was written by Jonny Fry, one of Leaseum Partners senior advisors in asset management and blockchain. It was originally published in his Digital Bytes newsletter.
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