Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), a major financial services giant, has made an important decision regarding exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Effective April 30, 2024, DTCC will no longer allocate any collateral to ETFs containing Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as underlying assets.
This means that these securities will face a 100% cut-off rate and as a result, no collateral value will be assigned.
This concept, called haircut, deduction (rate), margin rate, shave or risk margin in financial markets, is defined as the risk premium paid to prevent the lender from being victimized in case the collateral loses value.
This decision was welcomed by Caitlin Long, CEO and founder of Custodia Bank. “I'm okay with this because it reduces the leverage-based financialization games that Wall Street can play. These forces would blame Bitcoin for the inevitable problems even though it has nothing to do with Bitcoin itself. This is a healthy decision,” Long said. said.
*This is not investment advice.