Tuesday, March 6, 2018

"Announcing Coinbase Index Fund"

Coinbase, and the things Coinbase is doing seem to be a more realistic way for Andreessen Horowitz to make money out of Bitcoin than their 21.Co. (see below)

From Coinbase:
We’re excited to announce Coinbase Index Fund.

Coinbase Index Fund will give investors exposure to all digital assets listed on Coinbase’s exchange, GDAX, weighted by market capitalization. If a new asset is listed on the exchange, it will be automatically added to the fund.

Index funds have changed the way that many people think about investing. By providing diversified exposure to a broad range of assets, index funds enable investors to track the performance of an entire asset class, rather than having to select individual assets. We’re excited to give our customers the ability to invest in the potential of blockchain-based digital assets as a whole.

At this stage, investing in Coinbase Index Fund will only be available to US-resident, accredited investors. We’re working on launching more funds which are available to all investors and cover a broader range of digital assets.

Sign up today for updates and early access to Coinbase Index Fund.






Today, we’re also introducing Coinbase Index.

Coinbase Index is a measure of the financial performance of all assets listed on GDAX, weighted by their market capitalization....MORE
HT The Hill:
Coinbase bitcoin exchange launches cryptocurrency index fund

Speaking of hills, on August 25, 1987 Fidelity ran a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal.

For our younger readers, back in the day full page ads were much less common that they are today and made quite a visual impact on the viewer thereof.
This ad in particular was even more impressive as it consisted almost entirely of a mountain chart of the previous five years of stock market gains, and was very similar in appearance to the one above, soaring from bottom left to top right.

The ad was also memorable because it was printed on the same day the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit its then all-time high, 2722.
52 days later, October 16, 1987, the DJIA had declined 476 points (17.5%).
The following trading day, Monday the 19th the Dow dropped 508 points (22.6%).
The total top-to-bottom flush was 36.1% from the day the perfectly timed mountain chart appeared.

That's what I think of when I see mountain charts, probably not the connotation the marketeers are looking to elicit.

Still, Coinbase seems a much better bet than 21.co which has changed its name to Earn.com and plans to launch tokens (without an ICO) but who knows?
Here's Coinsquare on the 21.Co rebranding:
Earn.com Allows Users to Earn Digital Currency Filling Out Surveys

Unfortunately, whenever I think of 21.Co I think of its CEO—and A16Z partner—and a couple of our posts:

...You can read a lot about Mr. Srinivasan in "The Silicon Valley Secessionist Clarifies His Batshit Insane Plan" or, for just a soupçon, we have on offer, "Climateer Line of the Day: Uh Oh Andreessen Edition":
...Bitcoins are like “tulips you can send anywhere in the world in arbitrary quantities”.
-Andreessen Horowitz partner Balaji Srinivasan, CEO 21 Inc.
Mr.Srinivasan may not be aware that, since ca. 1637 or so, tulips have not had the best connotation in the world of finance....
Again, probably not the connotation the marketeers are looking for.
The Secession Plan and the Tulip quote were last seen in November's "So, What Has Andreessen Horowitz Crypto Investee 21.co Been Up To?".

For more on A16Z see also December 2017's: "Here’s How Andreessen Horowitz & Union Square Ventures Are Betting On Blockchain"