Tag Archives: capital

Canary Capital launches Axelar Trust targeting institutional investors

Canary Capital launches Axelar Trust targeting institutional investors

Digital asset investment firm Canary Capital has launched a new Axelar private investment fund, giving institutional investors direct access to the interoperability network’s native token, AXL.

According to a Feb. 20 announcement, the Canary AXL Trust will be available to institutional and accredited investors. Currently, Axelar has a market capitalization of more than $444 million and nearly $1 billion in total value locked (TVL), according to Flipside Crypto.

Axelar’s interoperability stack went live in October, allowing decentralized applications to connect with various blockchains, including Solana, Stellar and Sui. Axelar’s technology also allows developers to tokenize real-world assets, including real estate, commodities and intellectual property.

Canary cited Axelar’s major institutional partnerships with Apollo Global Management, JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank as one of the reasons for launching an AXL fund.

“In addition to evaluating top 20 market cap protocols, we are evaluating a handful of top 100 market cap protocols that have strong teams of developers that are building real applications and platforms [and] have the potential, based on developer interest along with launching product, to win in their category and make it to a large market cap,” Canary Capital CEO Steven McClurg told Cointelegraph.

“Axelar qualifies in the category of interoperability,” said McClurg. “There is already demand for AXL among qualified investors.”

Institutional demand for crypto is growing

The launch of Canary’s new trust coincides with a boom in institutional demand for crypto assets. Unlike the closed-ended AXL Trust, Canary is also pursuing open-ended exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to Solana, Litecoin and XRP.

The applications were submitted following the overwhelming success of the US spot Bitcoin ETFs, which sucked in nearly $40 billion in net assets in 2024. Bitwise’s Matt Hougan believes the US Bitcoin funds could attract more than $50 billion in investor inflows this year.

Increased regulatory clarity in the United States under President Donald Trump is expected to see more institutional uptake of digital assets in the near future, Chainalysis CEO Jonathan Levin told Cointelegraph in January.

Industry executives have also cited President Trump’s executive order banning the creation of a central bank digital currency as a major driver of institutional adoption.

“This move tells you where Trump stands: He’s betting on the existing crypto market rather than creating government-backed digital dollars. It’s a vote of confidence in Bitcoin, Ethereum and others, potentially giving them a boost in legitimacy and market value,” Anndy Lian, an intergovernmental blockchain adviser, told Cointelegraph.

Representatives from the crypto and institutional investment industries recently met with President Trump’s Crypto Task Force to discuss ways to open up the market to more established players. They requested clearer guidelines around exchange-traded products and protocol staking, among others.

 

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/canary-capital-launches-institutional-axelar-fund

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
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Pantera Capital founder faces tax probe over $850M crypto profits: Report

Pantera Capital founder faces tax probe over $850M crypto profits: Report

Dan Morehead, founder and managing partner of crypto investment firm Pantera Capital, is reportedly under investigation for potential federal tax law violations after moving to Puerto Rico, a well-known tax haven.

In a letter received on Jan. 9, the US Senate Finance Committee (SFC) requested information on over $850 million in investment profits Morehead earned after relocating to Puerto Rico in 2020.

Morehead “may have treated” these profits as exempt from US taxes, according to a Jan. 9 letter from Senator Ron Wyden seen by The New York Times.

According to the letter, the SFC was investigating tax compliance among wealthy Americans who moved to Puerto Rico and may have improperly applied a tax break to avoid paying taxes on income earned outside the island.

“In most cases, the majority of the gain is actually U.S. source income, reportable on U.S. tax returns, and subject to U.S. tax,” the letter reportedly states.

“I believe I acted appropriately with respect to my taxes,” Morehead said in a statement, adding that he moved to Puerto Rico in 2021.

Pantera Capital, founded by Morehead, was the first cryptocurrency fund in the US and has seen its initial investments grow by more than 130,000%, he wrote in a blog post on Nov. 26, 2024.

Morehead launched Pantera Bitcoin Fund in July 2013, making a lifetime return of more than 1,000 times the return on its first Bitcoin purchase at $74, he said. He added that 1% of financial wealth hadn’t come across Bitcoin at the time.

Pantera Capital holds over $5 billion worth of assets under management, with over 100 venture investments and 47% of its capital invested outside the US, according to the company’s homepage.

Crypto taxes attract regulatory attention worldwide

The investigation into Morehead comes amid increased regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrency taxes. In June 2024, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a new rule requiring US crypto transactions to be subject to third-party tax reporting for the first time.

Starting in 2025, centralized crypto exchanges (CEXs) and other brokers will start reporting the sales and exchanges of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies.

This decision could push crypto investors to decentralized platforms in a “paradoxical situation” that could make tax revenue harder to track, Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert, told Cointelegraph.

Showcasing the crypto industry’s backlash, the Blockchain Association filed a lawsuit against the IRS in December 2024, arguing that the rules are unconstitutional because they include decentralized exchanges under the “broker” term, extending data collection requirements to them.

 

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/pantera-capital-founder-tax-investigation-crypto

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
j j j

Bitcoin 2024: USA to Become New Crypto Capital- Hosted by Cointelegraph

Bitcoin 2024: USA to Become New Crypto Capital- Hosted by Cointelegraph

This episode dives deep into the heart of Bitcoin 2024, unpacking the event’s highlights and controversies with industry experts like Scott Presler, Mitchell, David Bailey, Matthew Sigel, Mattunchi, Alex Faze, Anndy Lian, and the Cointelegraph team. We dissect Donald Trump’s Bitcoin promises, questioning whether they signal true support or mere campaign strategy. Was his vision for Bitcoin, including removing SEC Chair Gary Gensler and forming a strategic Bitcoin reserve, genuine or simply a play for votes?

We then contrast this with RFK Jr.’s compelling perspective, exploring why many believe he demonstrated a more profound grasp of Bitcoin and what his ambitious plan to secure a vast Bitcoin reserve could mean for the US.

This episode doesn’t shy away from the uncomfortable questions, either. We tackle the increasing politicization of Bitcoin, debating whether the influx of politicians signals mainstream acceptance or raises concerns about potential political manipulation. What does this mean for the future of the industry?

Zooming out, we examine Bitcoin’s potential as a geopolitical game-changer. Could the US leveraging Bitcoin ignite a global power struggle, perhaps even prompting China to rethink its crypto stance?

Finally, with a crucial US election on the horizon, we analyze the potential ramifications of both a Democrat and Republican administration on Bitcoin regulation and adoption. Will the US become a crypto haven or a regulatory battleground?

Source: https://x.com/hannieris_/status/1819362697374584943

 

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
j j j