$2 Trillion Asset Management Firm PIMCO Plans To Expand Crypto Investment

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Bakkt Says Nearly 50% Of Surveyed US Consumers Have Invested In Crypto
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Key takeaways

  • Bitcoin and the general crypto market are constantly achieving new feats.
  • Amidst the strong run, fixed income giant PIMCO reveals its plans to gain more exposure to digital assets. 
  • More asset managers are expected to follow suit in the near term.

The Bitcoin market has been thumping new grounds, as the leading cryptocurrency has been able to smash past its previous all-time high of under $65,000. The price reached a new high of $66,930 on Wednesday before retracing to $61k but is still up 1.76% on the day. The Bitcoin run also spearheaded a cross-crypto rally that has seen the cryptocurrency market cap reach a new high of over $2.5 trillion.

As market sentiment heightens on Bitcoin clinching $70,000 and every heyday expected to bring new attainments, more leading institutional investors are also beating a path to the market. A case in point is the recent announcement by PIMCO, a global fixed-income investment manager with around $2.2 trillion in assets under management, that it plans to increase its exposure to the cryptocurrency market.

While speaking to CNBC, PIMCO chief investment officer Daniel Ivascyn revealed that the firm already has exposure to the crypto market through various hedge fund portfolios, but was looking to proactively increase it. 

“Now we’re looking at potentially trading certain cryptocurrencies as part of our trend-following strategies or quant-oriented strategies, then doing more work on the fundamental side,” Ivascyn said. “So this will be a gradual process where we spend a lot of time on the internal diligence side speaking to investors. And we’ll take baby steps in an area that’s rapidly growing.”

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The CIO also considers decentralized finance to be worth understanding as it had the potential to seriously disrupt his firm’s industry in particular. He said that the firm is seriously considering paths that could give it a competitive advantage in the evolving financial market and also brainstorming strategies with which to still be relevant to the younger generation of investors.

Market reaction to PIMCO’s announcement has been positive so far as it has been expected that institutions will also want to capitulate on Bitcoin’s track record of success. Reacting to the news, Bitcoiner Joe Pompliano noted that one of the best things about Bitcoin is that “everyday people” got a headstart on multi-trillion-dollar institutions. 

Meanwhile, in the near term, market participants only expect even more of these types of announcements as more asset managers follow suit and gain exposure to cryptocurrencies. The market also expects to see more and more asset managers offer their clients crypto exposure.