Crypto has ‘lost its shine’ for institutional investors, says Northern Trust executive
Institutional investors lost interest in crypto after 2022 and even with this year’s uptrend, their appetite for it hasn’t come back yet, according to Northern Trust’s head of digital assets and financial markets.
Justin Chapman told CNBC’s “Crypto World” at the Digital Assets Week conference in San Francisco that institutions have shifted their focus to cryptocurrencies‘ underlying blockchain technology, but that his firm “has capabilities” in place should client interest in crypto assets rebound.
“Just after March the crypto market went off a cliff… the client interest has definitely gone off the same cliff in terms of institutional interest in in cryptocurrencies,” he said.
“It’s definitely quiet now, since 2022, from the institutional side,” he continued. “Before that, we were seeing traditional fund managers looking to launch crypto funds, ETPs in Europe, which is the equivalent of ETFs in the U.S. — that’s really gone quiet. Even the hedge funds, who are pretty active in the markets, have certainly reduced their exposure within that particular space.”
Meanwhile, leaders from the biggest financial institutions gathered at the San Francisco conference were energized when it came to the blockchain technology – specifically its potential to help tokenize real-world assets like gold for clients.
The “evolution of the technology” is moving into a “better place” in terms of support from market participants, Chapman said.
“As a firm, we have capabilities that sit there to administer [crypto trading] functions, but it’s a pretty quiet market at the moment and [after] most of the issues we had last year, we haven’t seen a rebound at all on the institutional side yet,” he said.
Specifically, Northern Trust partnered with Standard Chartered in 2020 to launch Zodia, a crypto custodian for institutional investors.
Bitcoin has gained almost 75% this year after losing 64% in 2022. Trading was still to begin the year, with volatility falling to historic lows. The regulatory crackdown in the U.S. been a dark cloud over the industry while the banking crisis has helped push bitcoin’s price higher. Both have brought volatility back to the market. Even as bitcoin currently struggles to break above the $30,000 level, investors agree it remains in a long-term uptrend.
“We’re not focused that much on the asset class because the client isn’t at the moment,” Chapman said. “So we’re not seeing that appetite to have that within their portfolios. If that changes, as a firm, we can account for those capabilities. But it’s certainly lost its shine from the institutional perspective.”
An Amazon worker moves boxes on Amazon Prime Day in the East Village of New York City, July 11, 2023.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Amazon is extending its Prime Day discount bonanza, announcing that the annual sale will run four days this year.
The 96-hour event will start at 12:01 a.m. PT on July 8, and continue through July 11, Amazon said in a release.
For the first time, the company will roll out themed “deal drops” that change daily and are available “while supplies last.” Amazon has in recent years toyed with adding more limited-run and invite-only deals during Prime Day events to create a feeling of urgency or scarcity.
Amazon launched Prime Day in 2015 as a way to secure new members for its $139-a-year loyalty program, and to promote its own products and services while providing a sales boost in the middle of the year. In 2019, the company made Prime Day a 48-hour event, and it’s since added a second Prime Day-like event in the fall.
Prime Day is also a significant revenue driver for other retailers, which often host competing discount events.
Technology
SK Hynix shares extend gains to over 2-decade highs as parent group reportedly plans AI data center
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the Snowflake Summit in San Francisco on June 2, 2025.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
OpenAI has been awarded a $200 million contract to provide the U.S. Defense Department with artificial intelligence tools.
The department announced the one-year contract on Monday, months after OpenAI said it would collaborate with defense technology startup Anduril to deploy advanced AI systems for “national security missions.”
“Under this award, the performer will develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains,” the Defense Department said. It’s the first contract with OpenAI listed on the Department of Defense’s website.
Anduril received a $100 million defense contract in December. Weeks earlier, OpenAI rival Anthropic said it would work with Palantir and Amazon to supply its AI models to U.S. defense and intelligence agencies.
Sam Altman, OpenAI’s co-founder and CEO, said in a discussion with OpenAI board member and former National Security Agency leader Paul Nakasone at a Vanderbilt University event in April that “we have to and are proud to and really want to engage in national security areas.”
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Defense Department specified that the contract is with OpenAI Public Sector LLC, and that the work will mostly occur in the National Capital Region, which encompasses Washington, D.C., and several nearby counties in Maryland and Virginia.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is working to build additional computing power in the U.S. In January, Altman appeared alongside President Donald Trump at the White House to announce the $500 billion Stargate project to build AI infrastructure in the U.S.
The new contract will represent a small portion of revenue at OpenAI, which is generating over $10 billion in annualized sales. In March, the company announced a $40 billion financing round at a $300 billion valuation.
In April, Microsoft, which supplies cloud infrastructure to OpenAI, said the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency has authorized the use of the Azure OpenAI service with secret classified information.
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