Bitcoin falls as world's largest hedge funds get involved in cryptocurrency market

A Bitcoin sign on a Bitcoin ATM, after its inauguration by Athena Bitcoin Inc at a shopping mall in San Salvador, on June 24, 2021. The Bitcoin is an official currency in El Salvador
The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell more than 3% to $33,480 ($24,287) on the day after rejecting a key $36,600 level on Tuesday. Photo: Marvin Recinos/AFP via Getty Images (MARVIN RECINOS via Getty Images)

The price of bitcoin (BTC-USD) slipped on Thursday as some of the world’s leading hedge funds look to get involved in the cryptocurrency market.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell more than 3% to $33,480 ($24,287) on the day after rejecting a key $36,600 level on Tuesday.

Despite the fact that the coin had rallied at the end of June, with prices rising from close to $30,000 on the weekend to above $35,000 on Wednesday, it had its worst quarter since the bear market of 2018, and its third-worst quarter since 2014, in terms of US dollar performance.

Other leading cryptocurrencies saw a similar bounce before retreating slightly, with ethereum (ETH-USD) back above the $2,000 mark, and dogecoin (DOGE-USD) breaking above $0.25.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell more than 3% on Thursday. Chart: Yahoo Finance
The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell more than 3% on Thursday. Chart: Yahoo Finance (Yahoo Finance)

It comes as Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management are looking to hire a head of cryptocurrencies and George Soros’s family office is now trading Bitcoin, Bloomberg first reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Point72 rival Millennium Management has already been active in crypto-related futures and exchange-traded funds, while Brevan Howard Asset Management and macro trader Paul Tudor Jones have also begun investing in crypto.

“We are exploring opportunities around blockchain technology and its transformative and disruptive capabilities,” Point72 said in a May letter to investors seen by Bloomberg. “We would be remiss to ignore a now $2tn crypto currency market.”

The moves mark the latest sign of established players getting into the market after a wave of institutional support in recent months.

As well as Tesla (TSLA), several organisations, including MicroStrategy (MSTR), have invested billions of dollars into cryptocurrencies and traditional financial firms like PayPal (PYPL) and Goldman Sachs (GS) started to handle the asset on behalf of clients.

Watch: What is bitcoin?

However, cryptocurrencies were dealt a huge blow this week after the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) banned Binance, one of the world's biggest crypto exchanges, from carrying out any regulated activity in Britain.

The company has now made clear on its website, social media platforms, and all other communications that it is no longer permitted to operate in the UK, and must not carry out any regulated activities in Britain without prior consent.

“Binance Markets Limited is not permitted to undertake any regulated activity in the UK,” the FCA said last weekend, adding, “no other entity in the Binance Group holds any form of UK authorisation, registration or licence to conduct regulated activity in the UK”.

It comes just days after the Japanese financial regulator issued a consumer warning against Binance. It was the second time the country’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) warned about Binance after publishing an identical notice in 2018.

US and German regulators have also raised concerns over the firm’s activities in the past.

Watch: What are the risks of investing in cryptocurrency?

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