Our CEO Phil Sham joined Bloomberg Arabia today to share his insights on the recent market turbulence following President Trump’s announcement to reignite the trade war with China.
This triggered a sharp global selloff and one of the largest liquidation events in crypto history, with an estimated $20 billion wiped out — a stark contrast to the $8–10 billion liquidated during the May 2021 event.
The scale highlights just how much larger and more liquid the digital asset market has become in recent years.
From Volatility to Validation: Institutional Momentum Builds
Despite the volatility, the structural growth of the crypto ecosystem continues to accelerate.
Recent institutional moves underscore this trend:
- Luxembourg’s Intergenerational Sovereign Wealth Fund (FSIL) disclosed a ~1% allocation into Bitcoin ETFs.
- Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala increased its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT).
- The Czech National Bank confirmed it is evaluating Bitcoin for potential reserve allocation.
At the same time, Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee recommended a 2–4% portfolio allocation to crypto, while recent surveys by Fidelity and CoinDesk show large institutions with crypto exposure are already allocating between 0.5–1%.
24/7 Markets, Real-Time Hedging, and Stablecoin Utility
Even amid turbulence, digital assets remain among the best-performing asset classes over the past six months — with ETH up 150% and BTC up 38%.
As Phil highlighted, “buyers stepped in aggressively to buy the dip”.
Crypto’s 24/7 nature enabled investors to access liquidity and hedge macro risks while traditional markets were closed.
Stablecoins played a critical role in that process — with over $230 billion in on-chain transfers on October 10, 2025, underscoring their growing importance in global financial flows.
Aquanow in Action
During the event, Aquanow saw a 300% increase in trading volumes, continuing to support large corporates using stablecoins for cross-border transactions — with operations running seamlessly throughout the market move.
Today, Aquanow is among the largest market makers in Canada and MENA, trading billions monthly and processing over $20 billion in annualized volume.
💬 Watch Phil Sham’s full Bloomberg Arabia interview for insights into how institutional adoption and 24/7 digital asset markets are reshaping global liquidity.
