Digital Assets – a new world of exciting possibilities

We have come a long way from the last crypto winter with volumes surging in coins and derivatives – 2021 avg year to date 6x vs 2020 in futures and an even bigger jump in options activity.

Where is all this interest coming from? Is it that the whole world realized that crypto assets are here to stay, crypto inventions like perpetual futures are brilliant or yet another sign of the macro bubble that some claim we are in, with a world awash with cash trying to make its way out of the covid hole?

Who knows, possibly a combination of all and more. But one thing for certain is that the space has started to mature and a lot of institutions are looking at the field as a serious expansionary area. This is bringing “adult” flow and some franchise solutions to commonly repeated impediments to entry into the field such as custody, regulatory framework, margin efficiency, environmental concerns.

However, digital asset space encapsulates a lot more than just cryptocurrencies. At Maven, we are interested in all assets digital – NFTs here we come; as well as the underlying blockchain technology that opens up so many exciting opportunities for so many industries. Don’t be too surprised if you see a few NFT pieces hanging on our office walls from MONO X7’s while we work on perfecting our trading strategies.

One of our vices at Maven though – apart from the cheeky burger Fridays and excessive sports betting, is that the conversation always ends with “how can we trade this thing?”. Well, it’s a byzantine but super fun space with lots of jargon in the age of memes like fiat (not the car), proof of work (a bit like zoom facetime), miners (much cleaner than the real mining but still not so clean according to Musk), satoshi (who knows he really is), yield farming (come on just call it earning interest) and surely requires a laser focus. There are close to 6000 coins in circulation and there are different commercial models to be active in this space.

To be a leading player in the field, we are setting up a trading group to be present in all digital asset classes in the usual high volume, collaborative and entrepreneurial Maven way and are super excited to see what the future holds. We have spent the last 10 years building up a truly global, market leading prop trading operation and as the next chapter unfolds for us, we have big ambitions in the field. Options and linear assets combined presents a great opportunity for Maven as we have expertise in both fields and can trade these products around the clock.

We will be looking to build the digital assets trading group with a mix of existing Mavenites and top quality talent in the field. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you are equally interested in the field as we are.

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