Crypto structured products provider InvestDEFY has launched Sygma, a weekly market neutral yield harvest program targeted at institutional investors, family offices, high-net-worth individuals, Bitcoin miners, and DeFi yield farmers.

The product has been designed to provide lower volatility and a low correlation relative to Bitcoin or Ethereum, without employing leverage and it’ is powered by the firm’s Digital Asset Trading Automation (D.A.T.A.) platform. The product is also guided by the company’s proprietary Predictive Explorer analytics platform DORA, which is designed to centralise access to all models and predictive analytics.

‘The underlying volatility of BTC and ETH is not for the faint of heart,’ said James Niosi, CEO and Co-Founder, InvestDEFY. ‘We witnessed a 50% drawdown since last November’s peak-to-trough, which has resulted in inbound calls for asset protection. But asking for protection after a market melt-down is like buying high or selling low—it's going to be very costly.’

Sygma is aimed at investors seeking to generate returns on their USD, BTC, ETH, and Stablecoins, regardless of the direction of the market, and addresses four ‘pain points’ commonly experienced by investors in crypto assets such as the high correlation of BTC and ETH to other crypto assets; the significant volatility on BTC/ETH assets; the low yield generation on BTC/ETH assets; and the downside risk of BTC/ETH assets.

Each week, Sygma harvests yield in the form of premiums received by entering into one of two custom derivative structures.

The structure generates weekly positive returns that can be reinvested to compound over the lifetime of the investment by maximising yield in the form of premiums while also providing week-to-week downside protection.

Backtesting since the beginning of 2021 shows that Sygma BTC generated a 6.06% return on capital from its launch on January 21, 2022 to March 11, 2022, while Sygma ETH generated a 1.51% return on capital since its launch on February 4, 2022 to March 11, 2022. This compares to a 5.9% return for BTC and a -13.03% return for ETH for the same periods.

The release of SYGMA follows the recent launch of InvestDEFY’s D.A.T.A. platform and its two indexes: Equal Weighted Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and Equal Weighted Metaverse + Web 3.0 NFT.

US investment bank launches digital asset division

Cowen has launched Cowen Digital, a digital asset division offering full-service trade execution and custody solutions on a platform that provides institutional clients with secure and compliant access to the digital asset ecosystem.

Custody solutions are provided through Cowen’s strategic partnership with PolySign’s Standard Custody & Trust.

The new business line comes to live after more than 15 months building the infrastructure and systems necessary to launch the platform.

The new division brings proven expertise in traditional finance to support and assist institutional clients as they plan and execute their digital asset investment strategies, underpinned by the bank’s integrated institutional-grade infrastructure, according to Jeffrey M. Solomon (pictured), Cowen chair and chief executive officer.

Future functionality for Cowen Digital will include derivatives and futures, financing solutions as well as institutional DeFi and NFT access.

InCore Bank launches tokenised tracker on a Swiss blue chip

InCore Bank and GenTwo Digital have partnered to launch Switzerland's first digital asset tracker on a Swiss blue chip.

The product has been launched via Crysp, InCore Bank's solution to issue customised white-label investment products including traditional actively managed certificates (AMC) and tokens with one and the same vehicle.

The tokenised tracker linked to the Partners Group shares has a one year investment term and offers the possibility to invest in a digital asset representing a Swiss blue chip - the token is based on the Tezos blockchain, which corresponds to the DAR-1 standard announced by the bank last year.

‘For the first time, it is possible to issue both traditional Actively Managed Certificates (AMC) and tokens with the same financial vehicle,’ said InCore Bank CEO Mark Dambacher. ‘This hybrid model enables cost-saving capital raising by targeting traditional investors and digital asset investors simultaneously.’

The securitisation platform allows asset managers and banks to offer investment products - both digital and traditional assets, under their own name. InCore Bank also offers custody and brokerage services for digital assets.

The product will be available for subscription until 8 April 2022.

WisdomTree launches Solana, Cardano and Polkadot ETPs

Exchange-traded fund (ETF) and exchange-traded product (ETP) sponsor WisdomTree has added three new physically-backed cryptocurrency ETPs to its product range.

 WisdomTree Solana (SOLW), WisdomTree Cardano (ADAW) and WisdomTree Polkadot (DOTW) are available for trading on Börse Xetra, SIX, and on Euronext exchanges in Amsterdam and Paris starting today (31 March). The ETPs have a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.95%, and are passported for sale across the European Union.

The ETPs are designed to offer investors a cost-efficient way to gain exposure to the price of Solana, Cardano and Polkadot. The new products complement WisdomTree’s crypto asset basket ETPs - WisdomTree Crypto Market (BLOC) and WisdomTree Crypto Altcoins (WALT).

WisdomTree has also listed Swiss Franc trading lines for the SIX listed WisdomTree Bitcoin and WisdomTree Ethereum.

WisdomTree now has eight crypto asset ETPs listed on via Börse Xetra, SIX, the Swiss Stock Exchange and on Euronext exchanges in Amsterdam and Paris.

CME Group rolls out micro-sized Bitcoin and Ether options

CME Group has launched new options on Micro Bitcoin and Micro Ether futures as part of the expansion of its suite of cryptocurrency derivatives offerings targeted at institutions and sophisticated individual traders.   

The new micro-sized options are aimed at increasing the liquidity of CME’s Micro Bitcoin and Micro Ether futures. Sized at one-tenth of their respective underlying tokens in size, the contracts offer greater flexibility and precision to manage their exposure to the top two cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation.

Galaxy Digital will act as a liquidity provider for these options and other CME Group cryptocurrency products.

‘The smaller contract sizes will give investors and traders greater flexibility in managing their exposure to the two biggest cryptocurrencies in the world, opening the market up to new participants,’ said Robert Bogucki, managing director, global co-head of trading at Galaxy Digital Holdings.

Options on Micro Bitcoin and Micro Ether futures complement CME Group's catalogue of more than 20 Micro products, which, together, have traded more than 1.2 billion contracts to date.