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OnlyFans Parent Company Buys $20 Million Worth of Ethereum – A Boost To ETH Price?

OnlyFans, the well-known adult content subscription platform, has made a bold move into the world of cryptocurrencies. Its parent company, Fenix International, recently revealed its significant investment of nearly $20 million in Ether (ETH) in 2022. 

According to official financial filings submitted to the UK corporate registry, Fenix International acquired nearly $20 million worth of ETH over a two-year period.

While the company’s investment in Ether demonstrates its progressive approach, it wasn’t immune to the market’s inherent volatility. By the end of November 2022, the value of Ether had plummeted by $8.5 million, leading to an impairment loss on the investment.

The remaining carrying amount of Ethereum stands at $11.434 million, reflecting the broader trends and uncertainties in the cryptocurrency market.

OnlyFans Ventures Beyond Traditional Offerings

The move to invest in Ether aligns with OnlyFans’ broader strategy of diversification and technological innovation. Investing in intangible assets with an “indefinite useful life” showcases the company’s willingness to embrace emerging technologies like blockchain, positioning itself at the forefront of industry trends.

The disclosure about Fenix’s acquiring a substantial amount of Ether has not seemed to provide a lift yet to the price of the crypto. At the time of writing, ETH was trading at $1,636, down -0.8% in the last 24 hours, and sustaining a slight 2.2% loss in the last seven days, data from crypto market tracker Coingecko shows.

The financial filings offer a glimpse into OnlyFans’ multi-faceted performance. Despite the challenges posed by its cryptocurrency investment, the company reported impressive financial results for the year ending November 2022. 

With revenue surpassing the $1 billion mark, driven by an influx of over 50 million new users and more than a million content creators, OnlyFans solidified its position as a revenue-generating powerhouse. Users collectively spent an astounding $5.5 billion on the platform.

OnlyFans Pioneers NFT Integration And Celebrity Trading Cards

Leonid Radvinsky, the visionary entrepreneur of Ukrainian origin who acquired OnlyFans in 2018, has reaped the rewards of the platform’s surging popularity.

The filings unveil that Radvinsky amassed dividends approximating $485 million since the inception of the previous year, in line with the escalating demand for OnlyFans’ offerings.

This recent crypto venture is not the company’s first stride into the digital asset domain. In early 2022, OnlyFans facilitated a pioneering move by enabling verified creators to replace their profile pictures with Ethereum-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Moreover, in June of the same year, former OnlyFans executives unveiled Zoop, a celebrity trading card platform leveraging the Ethereum scaling solution Polygon. Zoop allowed users to trade 3D digital playing cards depicting their favorite celebrities.

The disclosure of Fenix International’s Ethereum holdings dovetailed with an industry-wide trend, as adult content creators began flocking to Friend.tech, a decentralized social media platform rooted in the cryptocurrency realm. This rush underscores how crypto’s recent surge has not only captured financial markets’ attention but also influenced sectors far beyond conventional investments.

Featured image from Verità e Affari

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San Francisco’s SoFi Bank Reveals Significant Holdings In BTC, ETH, And DOGE

San Francisco’s SoFi Bank, a rising financial institution with 6.2 million customers, has unveiled its substantial cryptocurrency holdings, demonstrating a proactive embrace of the evolving digital asset landscape. 

BTC, ETH, and DOGE Lead the Way

A recent report shows that the bank’s second-quarter earnings totaled $170 million in various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE).

Among its cryptocurrency investments, SoFi Bank boasts $82 million worth of Bitcoin, solidifying its position in ‘digital gold.’ Ethereum follows closely, with $55 million, showcasing the bank’s belief in the blockchain’s potential. 

The meme-inspired Dogecoin takes the third spot with $5 million, while Cardano secures the fourth place with $4.5 million. The bank also diversifies with digital assets like Solana (SOL), Litecoin (LTC), and Ethereum Classic (ETC).

SoFi Bank BTC, ETH, DOGE

SoFi Bank’s unique proposition lies in its commitment to fee-free cryptocurrency investments, allowing customers to allocate a portion of their direct deposits to digital assets. 

The bank further incentivizes newcomers by offering a $100 crypto bonus upon registration. With a minimum investment threshold as low as $10, the platform fosters accessibility to a variety of cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin.

While SoFi Bank’s innovative approach to cryptocurrency has garnered attention, it faces regulatory scrutiny, particularly from the United States Federal Reserve. The regulatory body has raised concerns over the bank’s involvement in crypto-related activities, requiring alignment with established policies. The bank has been given until January 2024 to ensure compliance, a process that involves navigating regulatory capital treatment intricacies.

Founded in 2011, SoFi Bank transitioned from its status as a non-bank entity in 2019 to a fully-fledged financial institution the following year.

Bitcoin (BTC) price chart from Tradingview.com (ETH, DOGE, SoFi Bank)

Strategic Growth And Financial Success

The earnings report highlights SoFi Bank’s business acumen, reflected in its strong second-quarter performance. With a remarkable 37% surge in revenue ($498 million) compared to the previous year, the bank showcases its ability to thrive amidst a rapidly evolving financial landscape.

SoFi Technology Stock also witnessed a 17% surge in July following its Q2 report. “As a result of this growth in high-quality deposits, we have benefited from a lower cost of funding for our loans,” SoFi CEO Anthony Noto said.

SoFi is not the only bank that has made its way into cryptocurrencies. Major US banks like Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, and Goldman Sachs, among others, have also taken the plunge to provide access to digital assets and cryptocurrencies for their clients.

Other notable entrants into the industry include BlackRock and ARK Invest, which have filed applications for Spot Bitcoin ETFs with the SECs. On August 13, the first of these, the ARK Invest application, will be deliberated on to be approved or rejected by the SEC. However, the regulator could also end up extending the deadline.

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Why Bitcoin, Ethereum May Not Be The Best Plays For The Next Bull Market

Since the launch of bitcoin, there have been massive gains recorded by those that got in early and held on long enough. The same was the case with Ethereum, whose market cap grew to the hundreds of billions. However, the growth that these digital assets have already seen over the years, it has put a hamper on how much they can still grow over the coming years. This is why investors are looking elsewhere for larger gains.

Bitcoin, Ethereum Gains Are Lower

Over the last bull market, it became apparent that bitcoin and Ethereum will no longer be able to give the kind of returns that early investors had gotten. During the previous cycle low, bitcoin had dropped to as low as $6,000 but had reached $69,000 during its peak. This was a 10x growth for the digital asset.

The case was similar to Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, although it had fared much better compared to bitcoin. It had grown from its cycle low of around $100 to $4,800 at its peak. This was about a 500x growth for the digital asset.

BTC grows 10x | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

However, their already massive growth has been putting investors off of them, not because they are not good investments but because the potential to explode exponentially has been greatly reduced. An example is that from bitcoin’s current price, even if it were to reach $100,000 per coin, it would still be a less than 10x growth.

The same with Ethereum, although the digital asset does carry more potential for larger growth compared to bitcoin due to it being much younger. If ETH were to grow to $10,000 per token, it would barely be a 10x growth.

Altcoins Take The Cake

Altcoins had barreled ahead of market leaders such as bitcoin and Ethereum when it came to gains in the last bull market. Where these large digital assets were doing below 500x, smaller altcoins such as Dogecoin and Shiba Inu had recorded ROI in the thousands.

Mainly, meme coins were notorious for such returns, but altcoins from other spheres had seen the same kind of growth too. FTM is a token that had traded as low as $0.2 and peaked above $3.4 during the bull market. DOGE’s price had made an impressive run-up from $0.004 to $0.7 at the height of its rally.

However, these are only, but a small example of the many ways altcoin had been great investments during the bull market. With the next bull market expected to happen in 2024, it is no surprise when investors are turning to smaller cap tokens in hopes of catching the next DOGE or SHIB.

Disclaimer: The following op-ed represents the views of the author, and may not necessarily reflect the views of Bitcoinist. Bitcoinist is an advocate of creative and financial freedom alike.
Featured image from Medium, chart from TradingView.com

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Majority Of Crypto Holders Will Hold Through An 80% Crash, New Survey Shows

A new survey has mapped out the sentiment of crypto holders towards the present market climate. It shows how most investors are looking at the market despite the recent crash. This survey from Deutsche Bank shows that more and more crypto investors are leaning towards holding for the long-term than selling. The majority have revealed that they would not sell their holdings even if cryptocurrencies lost a large chunk of their value.

Holding Crypto For The Long-Term

A recent Deutsche Bank survey titled “The Future of Cryptocurrencies” has found that more investors are leaning towards long-term holding. Out of a total of 3,250 U.S. respondents that were surveyed, 680 revealed that they used cryptocurrencies. The survey went on to further evaluate these investors which yielded some interesting findings.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Mining Stocks Lose 50-60% Value Since Crypto Price Peak

The majority of these holders said that they planned to hold their crypto through the worst of the market downtrend. Only less than half of respondents said that they would reduce or leave the market entirely if the value of their cryptocurrencies fell below 80%. The majority revealed that they planned to hold through no matter how bad the market got.

Crypto total market cap up at $1.95 trillion | Source: Crypto Total Market Cap on TradingView.com

These respondents are mainly small-time holders who have put less than $10,000 in the market overall. 38% admitted to only putting less than $1,000 into crypto, so these are everyday investors.

A majority of the polled users said that they had only recently gotten into crypto. A total of 65% said that they had started investing in the market in the last year alone. The main motivator? To make money from their investments. But not everyone’s motivation was to make money. A lesser but significant percentage admitted that they got into the market out of curiosity or exploration. Others also admitted that they got into the market as a way to diversify their investment portfolios.

Outlook For The Future

The polled individuals also gave their forecasts for the future. For leading cryptocurrency bitcoin, 25% of the respondents said they expected to see the digital asset grow as high as $110,000 in the next five years. A more conservative forecast compared to what has been put forward by experts in the space but it speaks to the long-term bullish outlook of the investors.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Dominance Will Continue To Decline In Favor Of Ethereum, Altcoins, FTX US President

A further 70% revealed that they planned to increase their crypto activity in the next 12 months. 26% said that, on average, they made less than five transactions a month, with only 5% making more than 100 transactions a month.

As expected, the majority of investors from the survey were male. This fits into the broader where it remains a male-dominated space. However, women involved in the space are growing by the day. The Deutsche survey found that 14% of all respondents were female. Males also showed more bullish sentiment towards the market.

Featured image from AiThority.com, chart from TradingView.com