Michael Moro, CEO of Genesis Global, discusses Tesla’s purchase of $1.5 billion in bitcoin and Genesis’s new unit: Genesis Treasury. He also talks about how demand has shaped Genesis’ bitcoin and crypto offerings over the years, which events have acted as catalysts for institutional demand, and what Genesis is expecting in 2021. In this episode Michael covers:

The significance of Tesla allocating $1.5 billion to BTC (1:08)
- How Tesla’s purchase is a result of the evolution of the asset class and why this is just the beginning
How Genesis got its start as a regulated BTC trading desk in 2013 (2:56)
What new products and services Genesis has launched since 2018 to meet institutional demand (6:11)
How Genesis came to launch Genesis Treasury and what this unit does (8:00)
- Understanding the idea of bitcoin as a corporate treasury asset and how the stock market is rewarding companies for getting into crypto
What the catalysts were in creating corporate demand for bitcoin and where corporate demand for bitcoin is coming from (10:52)
How corporate interest in bitcoin correlated with Microstrategy’s Bitcoin for Corporations event (13:16)
- Why institutions have been interested in Bitcoin as collateral, and why that narrative is new
How the conversation with institutions interested in buying bitcoin would be different in a bear market (16:00)
How GAAP accounting rules affect the quarterly earnings reports of publicly traded companies that hold bitcoin (19:03 )
His projections for how 2021 in crypto will play out (21:44)

Thank you to our sponsors!

The Sun Exchange: http://thesunexchange.com/unconfirmed

Episode links:

Michael Moro: https://twitter.com/michaelmoro

Genesis: https://genesis.global/

Genesis Treasury: https://genesistrading.com/treasury/

Recent institutional purchasing news:

Tesla’s BTC purchase: https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/02/08/bitcoin-surges-above-43000-to-a-record-after-elon-musks-tesla-buys-1point5-billion.html
Twitter’s CFO considers Bitcoin: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/94459/twitter-cfo-bitcoin-btc-balance-sheet-comments
Microstrategy’s Bitcoin for Corporations event: https://www.microstrategy.com/en/bitcoin/videos/bitcoin-macro-strategy
Michael Saylor’s Unchained interview: https://unchainedpodcast.com/why-bitcoin-now-michael-saylor-on-the-best-way-for-companies-to-buy-bitcoin/
Companies holding bitcoin: https://bitcointreasuries.org/

Genesis information:

Michael Moro’s presentation at Microstrategy’s event: https://www.microstrategy.com/en/bitcoin/videos/genesis
Genesis Global background: https://f.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/6024551/About%20-%20Genesis%20Global/About%20Genesis%20Global%20-%20Full%20Overview.pdf
Prime Brokerage Services: https://f.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/6024551/About%20-%20Genesis%20Prime/About%20Genesis%20Prime%20-%20Full%20Overview.pdf
Q4 market observations: https://f.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/6024551/About%20-%20Genesis%20Prime/About%20Genesis%20Prime%20-%20Full%20Overview.pdf

Miscellaneous:

Crypto and GAAP accounting : https://www.forbes.com/sites/shehanchandrasekera/2020/05/21/how-are-cryptocurrencies-classified-in-gaap-financials/?sh=40ed4f9865b2
Coin Metrics report on institutional investing: https://coinmetrics.substack.com/p/coin-metrics-state-of-the-network-330

Link to the Crypto News Recap:

https://unchainedpodcast.com/41-trillion-in-aum/