Webinar

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Discussion Topics

• Has Bitcoin become a legitimate alternative asset for investment portfolios?
• What is driving the institutional demand for Bitcoin?
• How can investors leverage on this new asset class?
• Why including them in portfolio composition is becoming the most important asset allocation decision?

Introduction

Cryptocurrencies are at the intersections of technological innovation, finance and monetary policy. For the past years, the interest in crypto has skyrocketed and there is tremendous focus and attention on the crypto industry. With more institutional buy-in from major conglomerates, Bitcoin has hit multiple new all-time high prices albeit followed by significant drops.

From MicroStrategy, Tesla, and The Brooker Group, to Stone Ridge, Meitu and many more, the list continues to increase in perpetuity and there seems to be no stopping to the growth of companies investing in Bitcoin as a way to diversify their treasuries.

While Bitcoin may be seen as a volatile asset class, unlike traditional assets, studies have shown that bitcoin is almost uninfluenced by general macroeconomic news.*

So has Bitcoin emerged from the shadows, being co-opted by establishment institutions and become a legitimate alternative asset for investment portfolios?

This webinar will explore what is driving the institutional demand for Bitcoin, how investors can leverage on this new asset class and why including them in the portfolio composition is becoming the most important asset allocation decision.

Join us with a roundtable of industry experts and explore how Bitcoin as an asset class is evolving as we tackle some of the biggest questions raised.

* Impact of macroeconomic news, regulation and hacking exchange markets on the volatility of bitcoin” – Lyócsa, Štefan; Molnár, Pete; Plíhal, Tomáš; Širaňová, Mária.

Speakers Bio

Johnson Chen

Johnson is Founder & CEO of global private capital raising platform CapBridge, which together with secondary trading private exchange platform 1exchange (1X), provide a holistic private capital solution for global growth companies. CapBridge and 1X are formed in partnership with Singapore Exchange (SGX).

An active angel investor and experienced business builder, Johnson has spent over 20 years incubating and steering growth companies. Johnson has founded and listed two companies. He is the Founder and Non-executive Chairman of Clearbridge Health (SGX ticker: 1H3, Bloomberg ticker: CBH.SP), a pan-Asia precision healthcare company. Johnson is also the Founder and Non-executive Director of Biolidics (SGX ticker: 8YY, Bloomberg ticker: BLD.SP), a microfluidic based liquid biopsy tumor diagnosis company. Earlier in his career, Johnson co-founded and successfully exited two tech startups.

Johnson holds a Master’s degree and a Bachelor degree in Manufacturing Engineering Tripos (MET) from the University of Cambridge, UK.

Akshat Jaswal

Akshat is the CEO at Ucap Asset Management (Singapore) Pte Ltd. He works closely with high net worth families and institutions advising them on their investments and helping them manage their currency, interest rate and commodity risks. Previously he worked as an investment advisor with international banks like ANZ and UBP. Akshat also has extensive experience in the global carbon emissions market and is passionate about incorporating ESG principles into client portfolios. Akshat is a CFA charter holder and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management with a specialisation in Finance.

Irfan Ahmad

Irfan Ahmad is the product lead for State Street Digital in APAC, State Street’s newest division focused on digital assets and technologies, encompassing the setup of a new integrated business and operating model to support clients’ entire digital investment cycle from pre-trade, trade, and post-trade as well as other initiatives designed to enhance the client experience.

Irfan Ahmad is the product lead for State Street Digital in APAC, State Street’s newest division focused on digital assets and technologies, encompassing the setup of a new integrated business and operating model to support clients’ entire digital investment cycle from pre-trade, trade, and post-trade as well as other initiatives designed to enhance the client experience.

Prior to joining State Street, he worked across Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities (FICC) technology at Barclays Investment Bank, where he was responsible for their ‘Run the Bank’ project portfolio, service management and business continuity management in EMEA. He later joined the Algorithmic Electronic Trading Technology and Trade Processing Engine team, where he oversaw risk and control practices within EMEA.

Grace Chong

Grace heads Gibson Dunn’s Financial Regulatory practice in Singapore, and has extensive experience advising on cross-border and complex regulatory matters, including licensing and conduct of business requirements, regulatory investigations, and regulatory change. A former in-house counsel at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Ms. Chong regularly interacts with key regulators, is closely involved in regional regulatory reform initiatives and has led discussions with regulators on behalf of the financial services industry.

Grace has advised banks, exchanges, asset managers and startups across Singapore and Hong Kong on regulatory issues such as banking and payments regulations, implementation of electronic trading platforms, licensing, tokenized products launches, crypto funds setup, outsourcing, virtual banking, corporate acquisitions, and data protection and security.

Grace has been consistently named as one of Singapore’s top 10 FinTech lawyers and is highly ranked in Chambers FinTech 2022, with clients noting that she “is very savvy and shares her knowledge of the MAS and market trends” and “is very pragmatic and always comes forth with sensible and realistic propositions, after an in-depth understanding of our requirements and objectives. She is a real asset to have on our side.” Further, she is recommended in Financial Services Regulatory for Singapore by The Legal 500 2022 guide which notes that she “is one of the best crypto regulatory lawyers in Singapore and is very responsive and personable.” Ms. Chong was recognized as an “Innovative Individual” in Financial Times’ Innovative Lawyers Awards 2021 and was named as one of Asian Legal Business’ Top 15 Rising Lawyers for APAC.

Moderator

Suresh Gopal

Suresh is COO of Propine with extensive asset servicing experience in the financial services industry. During his tenure at State Street Corporation, Suresh held executive positions in Operations, Information Technology, Product, Project and Program Management, and Governance. He has led and has been involved in the development and implementation of complex market and product expansion strategies across both APAC and Europe. Suresh has Master of Business Administration (International Business) from the University of New England and a Graduate Diploma in Information Technology from the University of Southern Queensland and is also a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.