Markets
What to know:
- The yen carry trade, that old financial acrobat, tumbled from its high wire, dragging crypto, gold, and silver into its comedic fall.
- Despite the chaos, $100 billion clings to bitcoin ETFs like a stubborn barnacle on a sinking ship.
- Regulators, once the grim gatekeepers, now wave institutions toward public blockchains and stablecoins with a wink and a nod.
HONG KONG – Ah, the markets! That grand theater of human folly, where last week’s crypto sell-off played out not as a tragedy of 2022’s scandals, but as a farcical spillover from the traditional finance circus. So say the wise (or weary) participants at Consensus Hong Kong 2026.
“After Oct. 10th, the rats had already fled the ship,” quipped Fabio Frontini, the ringmaster of Abraxas Capital Management. “This is TradFi’s mess, spilling over like a drunk at a wedding. It’s all one big, tangled web of greed and fear.”
The culprits? Those yen carry trades, the financial equivalent of a tightrope walker juggling knives. Thomas Restout, the CEO of B2C2, explained with a sigh, “Investors borrow yen at rock-bottom rates, then gamble it on riskier assets-bitcoin, ether, gold, silver. But when the yen strengthens, they scramble to buy it back, and the whole charade collapses.”
Ah, the yen carry trade-a financial house of cards built on borrowed time and cheap money. When the yen rose, so did borrowing costs, and margin requirements tightened like a noose. “Metals went from 11% to 16% margin requirements,” Restout added, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Surprise, surprise, the players had to unwind their positions. Who could have seen that coming?”
The result? A broadside against risk assets, not just crypto. Even bitcoin ETFs, those shiny new toys of the financial world, saw heavy volumes. But fear not, for the panelists assure us this is no institutional exodus. At their peak, bitcoin ETFs held $150 billion; today, they still clutch $100 billion. Net outflows since October? A mere $12 billion-a drop in the ocean of greed.
“It’s just money changing hands,” Restout shrugged. “The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the rest of us watch the spectacle.”
Looking ahead, Emma Lovett of J.P. Morgan painted a rosier picture. “2025 was the year regulators finally loosened their grip,” she said, her tone almost hopeful. “Now, institutions are flocking to public blockchains and stablecoins like moths to a flame. TradFi and crypto-once bitter rivals-are now dancing partners in this grand financial waltz.”
And so, the show goes on. The markets, ever the stage for human ambition and folly, continue their endless performance. Will crypto rise again? Will TradFi learn its lesson? Only time will tell. Until then, we watch, we laugh, and we marvel at the absurdity of it all.
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2026-02-11 17:31