MIKE NOVOGRATZ: IT IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO DEVELOP A CRYPTOCURRENCY BUSINESS IN THE CURRENT ENVIRONMENT

Billionaire and CEO of Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz said in an interview to Financial Times that his own cryptocurrency trading bank faced serious difficulties, which are not usually characteristic to the companies in the field of traditional finance. According to Novogratz, the development of cryptocurrency business in the current circumstances is not a good idea.

The Bank received over $302 million investment from the billionaire and currently manages assets of $460 million. Most recently, the company opened a new trading division and intends to improve its position in the market thanks to the listing in Frankfurt.

Nevertheless, in the history of Galaxy Digital there is a reverse side of the coin. After the organization raised another $242 million investment in August 2018 through a listing on the Toronto Stock exchange, the value of its shares fell by 37%. For the first quarter of this year, Galaxy Digital reported losses of $134 million, $85 million of which accounted for unrealized losses on cryptocurrency positions and $13.5 for losses during trading.

The second quarter for the company proved to be less successful and net income of Galaxy Digital was equal to $35 million due to unrealized gains of $44.8 investment in the main areas.

Nevertheless, Mike Novogratz is confident that the industry of cryptocurrencies will survive this turbulent period. In his opinion, next year the price of bitcoin will grow to $20 000 — this will be facilitated by the influx of institutional investors to the market, as indicated by the launch of the Bakkt and Fidelity Digital Asset Services platforms.