Bitcoin Daily: Crypto Asset Manager Grayscale Investments Appoints CMO; Digital Asset Gateway Ledger Raises $380 Million; State Street Rolls Out Digital Finance Unit; JPMorgan Analysts Say Bitcoin Nearing Bear Market

Deborah Bussière has been appointed to serve as the inaugural chief marketing officer (CMO) of Grayscale Investments LLC, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday (June 10). Bussière worked as the global chief marketing officer at Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. in the past. Grayscale had $53 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of mid-May. The firm provides over-the-counter funds concentrated on bitcoin, among other cryptos. Bussière’s executive appointment comes as digital currencies have become front and center more than in the past. They were recently the topic featured in a “Saturday Night Live” skit in May in which Elon Musk was featured.

And, in other news, Ledger, which works to secure digital assets, has revealed a 10T Holdings-led $380 million Series C round that also included support from current backers, according to a Thursday (June 10) press release. The “world’s most popular hardware wallet for cryptocurrency assets” is among Ledger’s offerings. Ledger says it secures a forecast 15 percent of all digital currency assets throughout the world. Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier said in the release that the “Series C announcement marks the transition of Ledger from the leading digital asset security company to becoming the secure gateway to the entire digital asset ecosystem.”

On another note, State Street Corporation has rolled out its new State Street Digital unit, according to a Thursday (June 10) announcement. The new unit will build on the firm’s present digital capabilities, while it will grow to encompass “crypto, central bank digital currency, blockchain, and tokenization,” according to the announcement. Nadine Chakar will head up the new unit and will report to State Street Corporation COO Lou Maiuri. “As digital currencies and tokenization not only gain momentum, but transform financial infrastructure and operating models, we can help our clients bridge the gap between the industry of today and the one of tomorrow,” Chakar said in the announcement.

And J.P. Morgan Chase analysts predict that bitcoin is entering a bear market despite recent price increases, Benzinga reported, citing Bloomberg.

“We believe that the return to backwardation in recent weeks has been a negative signal pointing to a bear market,” they wrote, according to Benzinga. The analysts noted that retail investors are turning to other coins; pointing to the fact that, while bitcoin held 70 percent of the market capitalization earlier this year, it has dropped to about 42 percent.