Factbox: Bitcoin's march towards the mainstream
11/05/2021 10:06
LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - Bitcoin BTC=BTSP hit a record
high just shy of $65,000 last month, the latest landmark on its
march to wider acceptance. A growing embrace by major companies
and financial firms, particularly in the United States, have
fuelled its gains.
Here are some of the steps that have pushed the world's
largest cryptocurrency closer to the mainstream this year:
ACCEPTANCE
May 2021:
* Auction house Sotheby's says it would accept bitcoin and
second-largest cryptocurrency ethereum as payment for a work by
street artist Banksy, a first for a physical art auction.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2MR2A9
April 2021:
* Swiss arm of French insurer AXA AXAF.PA allows its customers
to pay for non-life insurance products with bitcoin https://www.axa.ch/en/ueber-axa/blog/trend/bitcoin-cryptocurrency%20.html.
March 2021:
* PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL.O allows U.S. consumers to use
their cryptocurrency holdings to pay at millions of its online
merchants globally. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2LR0OD
* Tesla Inc TSLA.O customers can now buy its electric vehicles
with bitcoin, its boss Elon Musk says. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2LM1RU
Feb. 2021:
* Mastercard Inc MA.N unveils plans to support cryptocurrency
payments across its network. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2KG4NU
* Bank of NY Mellon Corp BK.N announces a new unit aimed at
helping clients trade and own cryptocurrencies and other digital
assets. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2KH24F
* Canada's main securities regulator clears the launch of the
Purpose Bitcoin ETF, the world's first bitcoin exchange traded
fund. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2KI1U7
INVESTMENT
May 2021:
* The S&P Dow Jones Indices launches a series of cryptocurrency
indices, tracking bitcoin and other major tokens, with plans to
add other coins later this year. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2MR2AX urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2IJ0TG
April 2021:
* U.S. digital wealth manager Wealthfront says it will start
allowing clients to invest in cryptocurrencies later this year,
a shift for the California startup whose investment strategy has
traditionally been more conservative. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2ML224
* Inflows into cryptocurrency funds and products hit a record
$4.5 billion in the first quarter, digital asset manager
CoinShares says. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2LZ2L4
* UK-based hedge fund Brevan Howard sets up a new fund to invest
in digital assets, focusing on a long-only range of digital
assets including bitcoin, according to a personal familiar with
the matter.
* U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc COIN.O was
valued at $86 billion at the end of its Nasdaq debut, the
biggest listing yet by a crypto company. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2M73OE
* U.S. business software firm MicroStrategy Inc MSTR.O , a
major investor in cryptocurrency since 2020, says it now holds
91,579 bitcoin.
March 2021:
* Morgan Stanley MS.N becomes the first big U.S. bank to offer
its wealth management clients access to bitcoin funds, CNBC
reported. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2LF3NP
* Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N reopens its crypto trading desk
and says it will offer investments in bitcoin and other digital
assets to its wealth management clients from the second quarter.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2LT3O5 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2LT3O5
* Daniel Loeb's hedge fund Third Point uses as a custodian
cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc COIN.O , a
regulatory filing shows.
Feb. 2021:
* Carmaker Tesla Inc TSLA.O announces it bought $1.5 billion
in bitcoin and says it will soon accept the cryptocurrency as
payment for its vehicles. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2KE3BF
(Compiled by Tom Wilson, Editing by William Maclean)
((T.Wilson@thomsonreuters.com; (44) 20 7513 5676; Reuters
Messaging: t.wilson.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))