Cryptocurrency: Expert discusses success of Bitcoin
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Over the last hour, Bitcoin and Ethereum have rallied over approximately two percent, leading to signs of a market-wide buy-in. Bitcoin is now listed as $49,000 as of the time of writing, and Ethereum is sitting around $4,100. The new index for digital assets will “sit alongside” the FTSE 100.
The FTSE was founded in the 1980s and is the primary reference point for the performance of the UK stock market.
The addition of a FTSE crypto index shows that institutional finance cannot ignore the meteoric rise of digital assets.
Kristen Mierzwa, the head of ETF strategy and business development for the FTSE Russell, a London Stock Exchange subsidiary that produces global market indices said: “The end goal is to have EU and UK compliant indices which sit right alongside the FTSE 100 and the Russell 2000.
Speaking to City A.M. she added: “Right now we’ve got 43 assets which have made their way through the vetting process.”
The FTSE digital assets index currently provides data on Bitcoin (Image: GETTY)
The head of ETF strategy and business development then confirmed that more projects will be added to the FTSE’s crypto-asset index throughout 2022.
Ms Mierzwa confirmed that dozens more projects will be added to the FTSE’s digital asset index in 2022.
She added: “Right now we’ve got 43 assets which have made their way through the vetting process.”
The FTSE digital assets index currently provides data on just three of the best-known crypto projects, Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cardano.
READ MORE: Shiba Inu price prediction: Crypto needs to TRIPLE growth to hit $1
The price of Bitcoin has increased after the announcement (Image: GETTY)
A FTSE crypto index will give the crypto-sphere a more definitive pricing index than current alternatives.
Ms Mierzwa discussed the rationale behind the new project and said: “This was clearly becoming a market that people wanted data around.”
FTSE Russell, which provides accurate indexes for investors, estimates the market capitalisation of the cryptocurrency market will be greater than $3 trillion by 2025.
This would put the cryptocurrency market on a par with the global private equity market.
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Bitcoin and Ethereum prices surge after new FTSE 100 crypto index announcement (Image: GETTY)
Cryptocurrency ATMs across the world (Image: Express)
The news comes after last month’s statement by the Bank of England that called for the urgent regulation of digital assets.
The UK’s central bank warned that the size of the market makes it a risk to global economic stability.
The Advertising Standards Authority, ASA, has also decided to heavily scrutinise a plethora of advertisements for digital assets being outputted across banner boards in major UK cities.
However, Ms Mierzwa said digital assets added to the FTSE’s crypto index will undergo a rigorous vetting process.
She added that this process should be able to screen out the overwhelming majority of some 11,000 known digital assets.
However, she added that even meme coins could be added to the index.