It’s hard not to panic when you’re surrounded by extreme fear. Yet some manage to see the bigger picture and don’t allow themselves to be swayed by the current fallout in the crypto markets. Arca, a crypto hedge fund is one of those.
Arca manages $500 million in assets, and is one f the firms likely to be feeling the squeeze from the sudden and dramatic collapse of the Terra blockchain’s LUNA-powered stablecoin, UST. It also runs a Digital Assets Fund, in which LUNA is a core holding, according to the note.
Yet it sent a note out on Tuesday this week saying that it had held an ad hoc investment and risk committee meeting to discuss the situation.
This came after UST fell to a low of 63 cents and LUNA was trading at $24.60 on Monday. By Wednesday, UST was still at 63 cents, but LUNA had dramatically fallen below $1.15.
Arca’s response may come as a surprise to some, but not to all. In the note published Tuesday, Arca’s CEO Rayne Steinberg said, “After this analysis, we felt, and continue to feel, that UST will ultimately maintain its peg and a number of attractive opportunities had become available. For example, we were able to purchase UST at a significant discount to par in the DYF (Digital Yield Fund) and then deposit with FTX who were paying 100% APY (annual percentage yield) given the buyer/seller imbalance during peak fear.”
Steinberg added, “We have significant experience in distressed situations from 2008/2009 up to and including SUSHI and LEO (Bitfinex) in recent years. We welcome these opportunities to be buyers when others are fearful.”
And in a similar story, three funds of Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management bought a combined total of 546,579 shares of Coinbase Global (COIN). Coinbase shares were down 26.4% to $52.35 in post-market trading on Wednesday.
Although the ‘extreme fear’ meter must be going off the scale right now for crypto investors, the moves by Arca and Ark demonstrate that belief is still strong. They see it as an opportunity to buy at a discount – there are bound to be many others who think the same way. Crypto is not over, no matter what some might say.