Coinbase的加密货币业务可能猛增50%

投入比特币和其他加密货币的资金现已超过3650亿美元，投资者几乎全是个人，而非华尔街金融机构。

不过，这种情况终于要有所改变了。本周，美国最大比特币交易所Coinbase推出了面向机构投资者的专业级新型交易产品，究其原因是精明的大客户对加密货币的需求不断上升。

Coinbase负责GDAX交易所等机构业务的总经理亚当·怀特说：“在机构领域我们看到的是，想一马当先的非常少，大多数人都希望加入第二梯队。”

Coinbase发布上述消息前，华尔街主要投行已在本月早些时候开始准备进入加密货币市场。高盛（Goldman Sachs）5月初披露自己将成立比特币交易部门，摩根大通（JPMorgan Chase）本周表示，它“正在对这个领域进行考察”，并任命了该公司历史上首位加密资产策略主管来领导这项工作。

针对加密货币这个金融-科技交叉领域，《财富》杂志制作了周播节目《Balancing the Ledger》。怀特在最新一期节目中称：“两年后再回头看高盛的表态，我们就会发现他们开始交易加密货币的时间非常有可能是个分水岭。”

华尔街对投资加密货币犹豫不决的原因是对充斥这个行业的骗局感到担心，同时也害怕安全问题。许多世界上最知名的比特币交易所都被黑过，其中就有现已声名狼藉的Mt. Gox——该交易所创纪录地被盗取了65万枚比特币，现在这些比特币的价值超过50亿美元，但依然不知所踪。就连自身系统从未被攻破过的Coinbase也一直是窃贼的目标，大量账户曾遭受入侵并被洗劫，其中就包括一些著名投资人的账户。

怀特指出，正因如此，Coinbase推出了为大客户安全托管加密货币的服务项目（最低存储额为1000万美元）。他还说，Coinbase目前存放着逾200亿美元的数字货币，其中大多为个人投资者所有。但Coinbase认为托管业务上线后这个数字有望猛增50%。

怀特表示：“我们估算，最有可能的情况是至少有100亿美元机构资金正在观望之中，只要有安全的托管产品，他们就会采取行动，而这还只是在加密货币领域。”

他认为，这些资金最初可能来自对冲基金和银行，但养老金和主权财富基金最终也会加入进来。在怀特看来，打造优质加密货币投资服务“将释放数百亿美元机构资金。我们希望这些资金流到我们这里。”

最新一轮融资后Coinbase的估值已达到16亿美元。不过，尽管其业务目前以金融业为中心，但Coinbase的终极目标要远大于投行或金融科技公司。怀特说：“简而言之，我们希望成为加密货币界的谷歌。”

对于比特币价格以及来自华尔街的资金将如何提振市场，怀特表示自己是不可知论者，Coinbase赌的则是加密货币的长期潜力：“要真正看清比特币或以太坊等基础性技术能带来什么，这个领域中的所有人都需要把目光放到20或30年后。”（财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

审校：夏林

Today, the more than $365 billion invested in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is owned almost entirely by individual investors—not by Wall Street institutions.

That’s finally about to change. Coinbase, the largest U.S. Bitcoin exchange, launched new professional-grade trading products for institutional investorsthis week, citing rising demand for cryptocurrency from smart money heavyweights.

“How we’ve seen it play out in the institutional space, very few want to be first, but most want to be second,” says Adam White, Coinbase’s general manager who runs its institutional business including the GDAX exchange.

Coinbase’s announcement follows moves by major Wall Street banks earlier this month towards entering the cryptocurrency market. Goldman Sachs revealed in early May that it is opening a Bitcoin trading desk, and JPMorgan Chase said this week that the bank is “looking into the space,” naming its first-ever head of crypto-assets strategy to lead those efforts.

“In a couple years we’re going to look at Goldman Sachs’ announcement that they’re going to begin trading cryptocurrency as very much a watershed moment,” White says on the latest episode of “Balancing the Ledger,” Fortune’sweekly show about the intersection of finance and technology, which you can watch above.

Wall Street’s hesitation to invest in cryptocurrency is rooted in concerns over scams that have plagued the industry and in fears about security. Many of the world’s most popular Bitcoin exchanges have been hacked, including the infamous Mt. Gox, from which a record-setting 650,000 Bitcoins—worth more than $5 billion today—were stolen and remain missing. Even Coinbase, whose own systems have never been breached, has been targeted by thieves who have hacked and drained scores of its customer accounts, including those of prominent investors.

That’s why Coinbase is rolling out a custody service to securely hold cryptocurrency on behalf of big investors (with a minimum deposit of $10 million), adds White. Coinbase currently stores more than $20 billion in digital currency, most of which belongs to retail investors, he says—but the company expects that amount could jump 50% once the custody product goes live.

“By our best estimates, there’s at least $10 billion in institutional capital that’s waiting on the sidelines just to move in for a safe custodianship product, just for cryptocurrency alone,” White says.

That money is likely to come from hedge funds and banks initially, but pension plans and sovereign wealth funds could eventually follow, he adds. The creation of premium cryptocurrency investment services “is going to unlock tens of billions of dollars of institutional capital,” White says. “We hope it comes through us.”

But while Coinbase’s business, valued at $1.6 billion during its most recent fundraising round, currently revolves around the financial industry, it ultimately aims to be much more than a bank or fintech company. “Very simply said, we want to be the Google of crypto,” says White.

Although he claims to be agnostic about the Bitcoin price and how the influx of Wall Street money could boost the market, Coinbase is betting on cryptocurrency’s long-term potential: “Anyone in the space needs to have a 20- or 30-year vision to really look at what a foundational technology like Bitcoin or Ethereum will provide.”