Everyone should be investing in digital assets, say panellists at the Digital Assets Forum in London.
In a panel discussion focused on investment opportunities in the digital space, the speakers explored the various developments across the industry.
Duncan Moir, senior investment manager at Abrdn, recounted how the discussion of digital assets has evolved. “Conversations with investors have changed a lot,” he said. “It’s no longer ‘What is blockchain?’ Rather, it’s ‘How can we invest in cryptocurrencies?’”
Other panellists discussed the ways in which their firms were focused on blending machine learning and AI into crypto and investing, for services such as price prediction, analysing correlations and improving smart contracts.
Maurice Mureau, CEO of Hodl Group, advocated for the use of blockchain, arguing that it can aid the transparency of data. “It's very hard to check that your data is authentic, which is why blockchain is so important,” he explained. “In our funds, we are using it for price predictions.”
Gautam Sharma, CEO and chief investment officer at Brevan Howard Digital, was in complete agreement. Building on Mureau’s argument, he stated: “I fundamentally believe that for AI to move to the next stage, you need blockchain at the back end for verification and payments.”
However, panellists acknowledged the challenges of convincing investors to add digital assets to their portfolios.
“The volatility of crypto is hard to stomach”, commented Moir. “We have to think about how to take it to our client base, which is large institutional investors.”
He argued that structured products, like structured notes and options, are an effective way of combatting this hesitancy. “They allow asset managers to introduce crypto to a portfolio in a more measured way. There are different flavours for different risk appetites of investors.”
Despite the challenges, the panel agreed that investing in digital assets is imperative.
“To diversify your portfolio, you need to have digital assets in it,” stated Mureau. “Tokenisation is coming, and you will want to invest in that infrastructure.”
Moir agreed, offering Abrdn’s insight as the panel concluded. “We see investment in crypto as investing in tech — you’re investing in the future.”
