Decentral Block Post

Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and even nascent altcoins are a solid “buy,” a previously risk-off investor says.

In a blog post released Feb. 8, industry stalwart Arthur Hayes announced a U-turn on his current crypto investment plans.

Hayes changes tune on "risky assets"

Current macroeconomic conditions stemming from the United States Federal Reserve previously made Arthur Hayes keen to avoid what he calls “risky assets.”

As inflation slows and the Fed’s rate hikes with them, multiple new storms are brewing in the U.S., and the Fed, as well as Congress and the Treasury, will all steer the economy as they see fit, he says.

The problem is guessing how these events will play out over the course of the year. For Hayes, 2023 could well be split into two halves, with H1 being an ideal investment environment for crypto.

Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and even nascent altcoins are a solid “buy,” a previously risk-off investor says.

In a blog post released on Feb. 8, industry stalwart Arthur Hayes announced a u-turn on his current crypto investment plans.

Hayes changes tune on “risky assets”

Current macroeconomic conditions stemming from the United States Federal Reserve previously made Arthur Hayes keen to avoid what he calls “risky assets.”

As inflation slows in tandem with the Fed’s rate hikes, multiple new storms are brewing in the U.S., and the Fed, Congress and the Treasury will steer the economy as they see fit, he says.

The problem is guessing how these events will play out over the course of the year. For Hayes, 2023 could well be split into two halves, with H1 being an ideal investment environment for crypto.

Michael Demissie, the head of digital assets at Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) is adamant that the cryptocurrency market fall in 2022 won’t waver institutional interest in digital assets. 

At a conference run by Afore Consulting on Feb. 8, Demissie said the digital asset industry is “here to stay” as institutional investors have held a strong interest in crypto.

"What we see is clients are absolutely interested in digital assets, broadly,” he said, according to a Feb. 8 report from Reuters.

Demissie backed up his thoughts by referencing a survey conducted by BNY Mellon in October, 2022, which found that 91% of custodian bank clients are interested in investing in blockchain-based tokenized products.

The survey also found that 86% of institutional players are adopting a “buy and hold” strategy, which may suggest that they see the cryptocurrency market as a long-term play.