Today in crypto, banking giant UBS says its high-net-worth clients in Asia are pivoting from US dollar assets toward gold, crypto and Chinese markets, Twenty One Capital received a $458.7 million worth of Bitcoin injection from Tether, and VanEck is launching its first tokenized fund backed by US Treasurys.
Asia’s wealthy shifting from US dollar to crypto, gold, China: UBS
High-net-worth clients across Asia are gradually pivoting away from US dollar-based investments, favoring gold, cryptocurrencies and Chinese assets instead, according to financial services giant UBS Group.
“Gold is getting very popular,” Amy Lo, the Swiss bank’s co-head of wealth management for Asia, said during Bloomberg’s New Voices event held in Hong Kong on May 13.
She cited rising geopolitical uncertainty and persistent market volatility as primary factors behind the shift. Investors, traditionally concentrated in US-centric assets, are now seeking broader exposure across alternative asset classes, including crypto, commodities and other currencies.
Lo said “volatility is definitely here to stay,” prompting clients to rebalance toward perceived safe havens and growth opportunities in new regions.
China, after years of muted interest, is also regaining traction among the ultra-wealthy. Lo noted that clients who previously avoided exposure to China are now proactively asking about investment opportunities.
Hong Kong’s benchmark index, heavily composed of Chinese companies, has emerged as one of the world’s top performers in 2024, further fueling interest.
Bank of America’s latest fund manager survey also shows that global fund managers significantly reduced their exposure to the US dollar in May, marking the largest underweight position in 19 years.
Tether injects $459 million Bitcoin into Twenty One Capital
Stablecoin issuer Tether bought $458.7 million worth of Bitcoin for Twenty One Capital on May 13, a Bitcoin investment firm it backed that’s working on a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) merger with Cantor Equity Partners.
Cantor Equity Partners said in a regulatory filing that Tether scooped 4,812.2 Bitcoin at $95,319 each and put it in an escrow wallet on May 9.
Twenty One’s total Bitcoin holdings have now swollen to 36,312 BTC, as Cantor Equity Partners holds 31,500 BTC for the firm, which will trade under the ticker XXI once the SPAC merger is complete.
Its Bitcoin holdings are the third-largest among public companies, trailing only Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy and Bitcoin mining firm MARA Holdings at 568,840 Bitcoin and 48,237 Bitcoin, respectively.
VanEck to launch its first RWA tokenization fund
Investment firm VanEck is launching a tokenized real-world asset (RWA) fund that offers exposure to US Treasury bills, developed in partnership with tokenization platform Securitize. The initiative places VanEck among a growing number of traditional finance firms entering the RWA tokenization space.
The fund, called VBILL, will be initially available on Avalanche, BNB Chain, Ethereum and Solana blockchains, VanEck said in a May 13 statement. The fund's minimum subscriptions start at $100,000 for investments running on Avalanche, BNB Chain, and Solana, while the minimum subscription on Ethereum is $1 million.
VanEck joins a burgeoning field of traditional financial firms that have launched RWA tokenized funds, with competitors including BlackRock and Franklin Templeton. In January, Apollo, an investment firm with $751 billion in assets under management, also launched a private credit tokenized fund.
With a market capitalization of $6.9 billion, US Treasurys are among the largest asset classes in tokenized funds, second only to private credit, according to data from RWA.xyz.
VanEck’s partner, Securitize, has tokenized over $3.9 billion in assets. In May 2024, it raised $47 million in a strategic funding round led by BlackRock.
