Today Bitcoin plummets to $54,000 to end The week the founder of the largest tech Buyout firm in the world Tomo Bravo's Founder says he'll never touch crypto Again following the disastrous bet on FTX and Hong Fang the president of Crypto exchange okx weighs in on what's Driving the crypto Selloff welcome to cnbc's crypto world I'm Brandon Gomez now crypto prices Sinking to end the week after this Morning's jobs report showed August Payroll grew by a less than expected 142,000 the unemployment rate however Ticked down to 4.2% as anticipated now while concerns Of a slowing labor market pushed prices Lower today the data does clear the way For the FED to lower rates later this Month as anticipated that move though Could impact crypto prices further by Noon Eastern Bitcoin and ether dropped 3.5% with Bitcoin falling to $54,000 and salana fell 2% to about $128 for the week cryptos in the red as Of noon with Bitcoin and ether both down More than 8% the two cryptocurrencies on Pace for back-to-back weekly losses with Bitcoin heading for its fifth negative Week in the past Six okay let's talk about the top Stories for today a key executive at the Blockchain firm Ripple is among several Signers of a letter endorsing kamla
Harris for president Chris Larsson Ripple's co-founder and executive Chairman joined 88 corporate leaders in Signing the letter which was exclusively Shared with CNBC other high-profile Signers include Yelp CEO Jeremy stelman Former 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch and snap chairman Michael Linton A group argues that Harris would Continue to advance fair and predictable Policies that support the rule of law Stability and a Sound business Environment if she were president the Purpose of the short letter with the Long list of signers is to serve as a Well-timed political show of support for Harris who is locked in a very tight Race against Republic presidential Candidate Donald Trump a reminder that The first presidential debate between The two is just days away meantime Trump Who has recently taken on a pro crypto Stance has been getting the support from Big crypto names including the winlos Twins after his campaign announced in May that it would accept crypto Donations next Orlando Bravo who runs The largest tech buyout firm in the World says he's no longer investing in The crypto industry now the founder and Managing partner of Tomo Bravo made the Revelation on cnbc's Squawk on the Street yesterday saying he and his Company are permanently out of crypto
After the collapse of FTX a little more Than 3 years ago Bravo called FTX the Most cuttingedge sophisticated Cryptocurrency Exchange in the world as Tomo Bravo helped lead a $900 million Investment in the company at a valuation Of $18 Billion but in late 2022 of course FTX Spiraled into bankruptcy and the crypto Exchanges founder Sam bankman free is Now in the early days of serving a 25-year prison sentence for the massive Fraud and conspiracy that led to the Company's collapse once you make a Mistake and once you get burned on Something our philosophy and My Philosophy is you never touch it again Even if it turns out that you missed a Big boom personally I'm a Believer in Blockchain I think it's a it's a Powerful way of um of doing many things And for many use cases and I've always Believed that from from an invest Standpoint you know after you make a Mistake we kind of move on Tomo Bravo Has emerged as a giant in the tech Industry because of several Multi-billion software buyouts in recent Years The Firm which was founded in 2008 Now oversees about $60 billion in assets Last pitchbook just dropped a new report On Crypt VC funds revealing that even Though the past two years have been Tumultuous for crypto fundraising signs
Of her recovery are starting to emerge Now the report notes that the median Fund size has increased this year up More than 65% to $ 41.3 million According to pitchbook the rise of Midsize crypto VC funds which are worth 100 million to 500 million reflects a Strategic adaptation to Market Challenges the report notes that the Crypto VC landscape has experienced Significant fundraising fluctuations With 2022 reaching an all-time high of$ 23.7 billion raised almost doubling 2021s total but then in 202 23 saw a Sharp decline with fundraising dropping By nearly 90% pitchbook notes that the Time between fundraises and the duration To close funds have both been lengthened From 2021 to 2024 which reflects Increased caution amongst investors the Financial data provider warns that the Crypto fundraising environment will stay Tough as the market recovers adding that Without significant returns to limited Partners experienced crypto investors Will likely stay cautious while newer LPS might be attracted to trending Narratives like the integration of Crypto and AI all right back to markets for our Main story crypto world's Jordan Smith Spoke with Hong Fang president of the Crypto exchange okx about what's driving Crypto prices as fresh economic data
Rolled in this morning and whether Institutions are staying on the Sidelines let's start with markets this Week we we got another week of losses For Bitcoin and ether both are down when I when I last checked between seven and % since last Friday JP Morgan out a Report saying that the crypto Market is Lacking near-term catalysts that will Really Drive prices higher what's your Reaction to that and the price moves That we've seen in the past few days and Weeks what's it going to take to break This sideways and downward trend of Crypto yeah I I I do think that um if You look at near-term uh Dynamics There's a lot of uh um flow that are Being influenced by macro news um there Was new uh um information around the Weaker labor market I think there are a Lot of expectation or speculation around The rate cut and uh because of the Weaker economy and weaker labor markets That people are seeing so I think that Does affect uh crypto prices as well as We all know that there is a lot more Institutional participation EF Participation in the uh broader um Crypto uh space particularly for Bitcoin And ethereum I think that is affecting The newturn price it is definitely a Risk on asset for uh for a lot of the New customers um investors uh but I I Also think that that that the uh
Fundamental uh value proposition for Bitcoin is unchanged I think if you look At uh the uh the new user inflow um on Exchanges from institutional side from Retail side that Trend continues we Continue to see new customers coming in On boarding with us both on retail side And on institutional side we recently Did a uh um um uh research paper um um On institutional uh uh you know lscape And interest and and there's a strong uh Interest 70% of the uh institutional Investors are actually showing interest And say that they want to actually Allocate toward Bitcoin uh within the Next two or three years so I think There's a lot a lot of long-term uh Confidence in this uh I think we just Need a little bit more Catalyst uh near Term and and also uh honestly I think It's ongoing education for people to Understand what this is about um so yeah That's my point of view yeah I I I want To go back to something you said about Institutional adoption and pair it with This conversation around ETFs you made The point that you're you're talking to People who are looking at it at a One-year twoyear fiveyear Horizon um and When I look at ETFs a lot of people were Really anticipating you know a hundred Billion dollar $150 billion of assets Under management by the end of the year And so far we just haven't seen that
Sort of momentum there um where do you Think Wall Street and institutions are In their thinking is it just you know We're on the sidelines until we get away From some of this macroeconomic Uncertainty and then we'll really take Another look at crypto um or is it more Of to your point an an educational Gap Because I mean we've talked about Educational gaps in crypto for a while But I mean it's been around for 15 years Now so how much of an educational Gap is There what what is the thinking for Institutions I I think from an Institutional perspective what we see is That uh this or this year over the last 12 month there's a pretty big change in Mindset and a level of acceptance from Institutional customers uh both because Of regulatory uh um Evolution as well as ETF approval so yes the the um the ETF Inflow and outflow the net flow May Fluctuate now you know some initially Started very strong and then we start to See uh uh outflow I think over the last Few days it's actually net outflow as Well uh but it doesn't mean that Institutions are not adding their Position uh I think we always see news Where you know some institutions coming Out and say we are actually accumulating Bitcoin uh to people at surprice so Generally speaking I think institutional Customers are investors are more
Sophisticate investors um they even if When they have a long position they do Not just go ahead and by right they Actually made U made a calculated move Uh and they they you know talk about it After making the move um so I I do think That what we are seeing uh from our Conversation with customers from the Actual activity the institutional Interest is still there uh it's more Short-term trading let's talk about a Little bit more about the economy and Sort of where Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies fit into an investment Strategy there have been a lot of claims Made about where Bitcoin or other crypto Fits in a strategy as a hedge against Inflation or a way to avoid economic Uncertainty like we're seeing right now Um it seems like not one of those Narratives has have borne out exactly It's been a number of of different Examples in where crypto can fit but Where do you think crypto fits in this Environment right now without you know Say specific Strategy I I think uh for any investors Who care about long-term value uh it is Very hard not to think about Bitcoin Unless you don't really know about it or You know do not actually want to spend Time understanding it uh if you actually Spend time to to to research and learn About it I think it's very hard to not
Have an allocation to a Bitcoin because It does uh provide that long-term Inflation hedge uh it also provides uh Geom Geo uh political hedge to some Extent um in in depending on which Jurisdiction you are at this point uh so Uh so and it's borderless as well right People actually talk about you know Having Bitcoin or ethereum uh as a Alternative for people you know for Example in countries where uh there's More Capital control they cannot get Capital out of those country Traditionally they use you know wallet Um uh um uh watch or um you know um Cruise cruise ship to uh to move wealth Out of a country but now they have Bitcoin um so so I do think that that Demand is there I think the Institutional Education uh is has some of it has been Done by the ETF approval uh but that I Think will continue you also see copper Big copper starting to allocate Bitcoin Uh um allocating to bitcoin from their Treasury fund as well uh not just crypto Exchanges but uh your normal uh Corporations so I think that trend is Kind of ongoing uh retail the same thing And it probably uh from a retail Education perspective really depends on How people how how much pain people feel Uh in their everyday life and I think That that pain index is probably a
Direct as uh um a direct nut um to uh in The education front from a retail Perspective let's shift to okx uh your Company obviously weathered the worst of The crypto winter we we moved back to Some sort of bullishness for the space Regardless of of what prices are doing Right now how is okx doing in this Environment and how are you feeling About adoption in the industry as you Talked a little bit about earlier yeah Um for for us we really look at it from A long-term perspective to be honest Even uh in the normal concept of bare Market I don't think what we have been Doing um uh have been much different From you know what we have been doing in The in a bull market which is really Focused on uh Building Product building Infrastructure uh building the um uh um The global infrastructure uh from from Product perspective legal and compliance Perspective people perspective so that We can actually properly uh uh offer the The right uh set of product to to Different people in different Jurisdiction in that local uh uh Scenario so which actually takes a Immense amount of time and resources Takes a long time it took us a few years To settle down in Europe it took us a Few years to settle down in Singapore For example so every um Market to Properly invest and and serve that uh
Market uh in a sustainable way I think It takes years of investment so from That perspective doesn't really um uh Matter to us whether we are in a bull Market or in a bare Market um and we are You know we recently had some good news Uh but that's not really because of what We do this year it actually you know It's a years of investment and and um And and you ultimately it came to this Point okay that's all for crypto world This week we'll be back again on Monday We'll see you then
