The crypto industry is fairly unique in its history, philosophies, and market structures. However, if there is one industry that a lot of the very short-term behavior of crypto can be compared to, that’s Forex. Don’t mistake this for the long-term though – I don’t know of any traditional currency that gains a 100% in a day like crypto can. However, if you’re looking at the very short-term, say minute-by-minute trading action, the charts resemble the Forex market in many ways, especially the leveraged Forex market.

Forex to Crypto Transition

For investors in the crypto asset class then, is there an advantage to have mastered Forex? That’s what the team at Countinghouse is betting on, with their new fund that trades exclusively in crypto using investor money.

Like any project, especially one that trades in the crypto markets, we’d add a risk premium that can go both ways. In a bull market, the returns can be amplified, and in a bear market, the returns can be decimated more than the market. Why? Because the fund still needs to pay fixed costs even if the money in the bank has gone down like 80% in a full cyrpto bear market.

So, it’s a double edged sword. If you’re in crypto and think the markets are not exciting enough, the funds generally make sense. Countinghouse’s strategy is a little different than other funds though.

Strategy and Fundraising

On the strategy side, the Countinghouse fund isn’t doing the traditional ICO investing like many other funds do. Sure, it allocates 10% of the fund for this purpose, but that’s not the majority by any means. Instead, the majority of the money is allocated to algorithmic trading and arbitrage strategies.

What’s the advantage of this? For starters, the team has expertise in Forex. The Forex markets can be quite choppy like crypto especially when you add in leverage. The team is hoping to translate that expertise from Forex to crypto.

Then, crypto is a unique beast. We all know how the market structure is inefficient. During the recent bull run you might remember how the price on Korean exchanges was consistently higher than others. The Clearinghouse team realizes this, and is trying to take advantage of it. Sometimes, these arbitrage funds can make a lot of sense.

For investors then, the expectation is to make profits in both bull and bear markets. Arbitrage, for example, should work in both types of markets. In fact, the strategy should perform well as long as there is volatility in the markets, and we know how that works in crypto!

Clearinghouse also has a different strategy to raise investor money than other crypto hedge funds. It is doing a straightforward ICO for this purpose. Investors give money to the team, and get their tokens. These are security tokens representing ownership in the fund managed by Clearinghouse. You get the benefits of more liquid markets. You also pay less minimum fees, because of granular divisibility.

At the end of the day, you’re making a bet on the team to deliver, so make sure to do your research. Check out the website and whitepaper as the starting point. Remember, investing in tokens is risky business and never invest more than you’re willing and able to lose completely.

Climate change is one of the biggest long-term threats that the current generation faces. It is also one of those threats with a very long-term impact not just on individuals or societies, but on humanity as a whole. It is no wonder that people need to marshal all the resources they can to help solve this for the future generations. The current path we’re on isn’t sustainable. The data is clear and unambiguous.

So why don’t we do something about it, if everyone agrees it is a big problem? It is because solving climate change generally requires a sacrifice. Those of us in the developed world consume and emit way more carbon that the rest of the world. Meanwhile, the rest of the world aspires to the standards of the developed world. If we are not to go down this road, people will need to make sacrifices. No one wants to voluntarily lower their standard of living. It’s a deadlock. No wonder nothing substantial gets done, other than the feel-good pats on the back people give themselves for extremely trivial ‘achievements’ in reducing emissions.

The Way Forward

Then what’s the way forward? We need to consider incentives. People will not voluntarily cut emissions, but they can be incentivized to do so. This is a powerful idea that economists have been advocating for a long time anyway. However, the question is, where does this extra reward come from? The usual answer is governments, but we all know the kind of dysfunction that happens there especially in today’s world. Combine that with the political inclinations of the party in power in the world’s largest economy and all of a sudden the prospects don’t look so good.

So what’s a good free market solution to this, and can crypto really help? The answer lies in carbon credits, and it can indeed be implemented on the blockchain. The idea is to reward people for using cleaner energy sources and punish people for using the dirtier sources like coal.

And that’s exactly what a company called Zero Carbon is trying to do – carbon credits on the blockchain to help with reducing emissions on the planet.  They accomplish this with the help of their native token – Energis Token. The way it works is simple – if you’re an energy provider and you use clean energy as part of the system, you get rewarded. Otherwise, you pay a penalty.

The energy suppliers may want to buy Energis Token to manage demand and have the ability to use fossil fuels sometimes. Why? Because we’re not yet at the point where renewables are as reliable as traditional fuels. This is like a ‘bridge’ solution, but it works.

Energis token is a neat attempt at mimicking carbon credits on the blockchain. Let’s see if it works in the marketplace.

If you’re interested to learn more, check out their website and whitepaper.

Real estate on the blockchain has been a hot topic for at least a year now. The real estate industry sees the writing on the wall that their outdated ways to buy and sell real estate won’t last forever. The blockchain provides a perfect launching pad to streamline the industry for investors, owing to its transparency and ability to get multiple parties on the same page. In addition, blockchains are inherently global, and as much as real estate is local, the investors today especially in top cities in the world are from around the globe.

However, this whole blockchain real estate needs to be done right if it is to succeed.

REITs and Property Backed Tokens

Global REIT is taking an interesting approach here, which is from the get go creating a REIT-like instrument for the tokens that it sells. Essentially, it isn’t a platform play but really a real-estate backed crypto token here. So if you like the team and investments, it makes sense to consider the token. The tokens are based by real estate assets in specific locations and verticals, and accrue cash flow accordingly.

Cash flow of course is the name of the game when it comes to real estate. Using Ethereum based tokens, it is easy to track ownership and changes of ownership over time. This makes the accounting easier. The big win is for global investors. For example, Global REIT is buying its first property in UAE. How many, say Australian investors have exposure to real estate in the middle east? Now it is possible through their tokens.

Of course the UAE property is the first step. The company has plans to expand to other markets including the UK. Crypto payments make it easier to go through the paperwork and compliance for ownership and transfer of these rights. The company intends to pay dividends on these tokens in Tether, backed by the cash flows of the actual properties on the ground.

Real Estate Tokens

There are two tokens at play here – the GREM and GRET tokens. These will be sold in an initial crowdsale to investors, very similar to an ICO. The GREM token pays out a 2% AUM (assets under management) that decreases to 1.25% in 0.25% increments over time but never below 1.25%. The GRET token pays out a stable 8% per annum dividend on the first acquired asset, which is the UAE property for Global REIT. Each property will have its own GRET token and contract.

More numbers for you. The company plans to start with $75 million in AUM and reach $2 billion in AUM in 3 years. Yes, that’s a highly ambitious goal, but could provide some real diversification to real estate investors if they succeed.

The team isn’t limiting its investments to a geography or asset type. Its roadmap has everything from a hotel in UK to a shopping mall in UAE. But since GRET tokens are different for each property, investors can build their own collection of real estate tokens if they so wish. Otherwise, they can just invest in GRAM tokens as described above.

If you’re a real estate and/or crypto enthusiast and want to learn more, check out their website and whitepaper. Be very careful if you invest any money in the tokens, since it is a risky investment and you can lose all your money. Do your due diligence and never invest more than you can lose.

Photo Credit: michaela loheit