DS3 Crypto

DS3 Crypto is excited to announce Alissa Ostrove as our new Chief Operating Officer. Alissa brings invaluable experience and senior leadership across the digital assets sector. Her appointment will enable DS3 to further scale our product expertise, processes and operational efficiencies. Alissa has demonstrated a strong track record growing organisations and teams across a range of ambitious projects. Our clients will benefit from her expertise in operations, marketing and product growth strategy. We're delighted to have Alissa onboard. She is a key appointment as DS3 Crypto continues our vision to deliver reliability and trust to help our clients grow.

We're delighted to announce Michael Ashby has joined DS3 Crypto as our Senior Strategic Advisor. Michael has a deep breadth of experience across digital asset and traditional financial markets, which has been invaluable to DS3 Crypto. He is currently the CEO of ALGOQUANT, a quantitative trading firm focused on providing world class structured products. He has worked with some great teams; most recently he worked at Point72 Asset Management in New York as Head of Digital Asset Strategic Implementation and before this as Chief Operating Officer at Meraki Global Advisors, highlighting his expertise in operational and strategic growth. Michael's extensive experience includes significant positions at Thunderbird Partners LLP and Ziff Brothers Investments. In addition to his roles at ALGOQUANT and DS3 Crypto, Michael serves as a strategic advisor to several innovative firms, including VenHedge Asset Management, Membrane Labs and Vequity.

DS3 Crypto continues to be busy seeing distressed asset deal flow. Additionally, our pool of consultants are supporting Swissblock Technologies AG, Cense and Membrane Labs to grow in their respective fields. Distressed Assets - FTX and Celsius We've been transacting large institutional bankruptcy claims in FTX above par giving returns of mid to high teens. We remain buyers at current levels and can execute efficiently, have flexibility to pay in stablecoins and address any bespoke terms. We are also interested to speak to holders of Celsius about their illiquid mining co and residual stub assets. Swissblock Technologies AG If you are a digital asset fund or crypto related treasury with >$50m AuM we would like to speak with you. After 8 years of proprietary trading and refining processes, SB are now looking for long term like-minded partners that can benefit from their established trading toolkit and algorithm suite: simplifying understanding of the market environment, improving risk management, decision making and better timing entry and exit points within crypto ultimately raising performance and AuM. Cense (Regulatory Technology) We have engaged with a variety of UK, European and Swiss banks who want the ability to accept more fiat inflows that have been derived from digital assets. Being able to prove source of wealth/funds quickly and effectively will allow banks to become more commercial to both corporate and retail clients, especially as we fast approach the implementation of MiCA. Moreover, certain exchanges are now also being required to provide proof of wealth documentation from banks for larger fiat amounts being sent. Finally, we have started conversations with various International custodians who are looking at ways of improving their onboarding process with regards to safely verifying assets - Cense allows users to upload their wallets and demonstrate an applicable risk score for their portfolio within one easy to read PDF report. Membrane Labs Institutional lending activity within Europe continues to grow and be concentrated to established OTC Lenders, exchanges and specific on-chain lending pools. Demand for leverage (coin or stables) remains high given ongoing difficulties raising external capital. New sources of demand and supply are also being generated in Switzerland and PBs evolving existing (or launching new) lending desks. Membrane’s back and middle office functionality is crucial to helping support sustainable growth and scale by providing key infrastructure around the lifecycle management of loans. Feedback indicates lending activity has been growing not just within crypto native players but also corporates who have stables and coin on their balance sheet and are looking for ways to generate yield.

Membrane Labs thank you for trusting in DS3 Crypto

DS3 Crypto are excited to announce our partnership with Cense. If you are a bank or institution that struggles to deal with crypto, we’re here to help. Please reach out to the team.

DS3 Crypto attended multiple meetings at TOKEN2049. See our key thematic takeaways below and reach out to discuss. Institutional Crypto: We've noticed more purpose and professionalism in recent conferences. In years gone by the sector has been guilty of gratuitous 'let's find ways to collaborate' without substance. That has changed. Meetings, partnerships, deals are now with purpose and tangible outcomes. We see maturation here. OTC Flow Growth: Trading desks have seen a notable increase in trading volume in recent quarters. This has been primarily driven by existing accounts increasing activity (and whale traders in Asia) as opposed to large, new entrants. Options flow is still the largest growth area, spot flow remains very competitive (especially in majors). ETF Flow continues to be a larger % of daily volume. Gaming and Payment companies are increasing their relevance as key trading partners. Hedge Fund Landscape: Some small signs of recovery in the fund raising space. While larger hedge funds have been successful in raising some funds it has been primarily from existing investors (as opposed to fresh external capital). Smaller funds are seeing some cheques coming in but those under $25m million face challenges, especially with a track record of less than 2-3 years. Switzerland: remains the preferred destination for institutional crypto activities, benefiting from regulatory clarity and robust banking infrastructure. The country's thriving private wealth and family office sector are expected to help attract more hedge funds and service providers. Banking still difficult: The eco-system is still encountering issues accessing banking services (frustration levels depend on the region). Lending Markets: There is a high demand for leverage among all funds, with the current demand for USD exceeding available supply by 3-4 times. A significant portion of liquidity is being directed towards yield protocols like Ethena, offering elevated rates. Custody: Traditional finance-backed teams are gaining ground against native crypto incumbents in custody services. Asset Management: Services are growing. Companies are in the process of developing accessible, regulated, institutional-grade products, with downside protected yield and upside products continuing to be a focal point for growth. AI Integration: There is extensive discussion regarding the integration of AI and Blockchain technologies. Despite numerous potential use cases, there is a need for more practical applications. Special Situations: FTX claims continue to trade in the high 90s for large institutional claims, with deal flow remaining robust. Meme Coins: traders excited about the launch of Runes on Bitcoin (that will function like meme coins). Will lead to more development and fees on Bitcoin. 

DS3 Crypto March Update: March was DS3’s most active month since inception with our key three business units seeing engagement and a variety of signed mandates (distressed assets, consultancy and partnerships). We saw ongoing sellers of FTX bankruptcy claims from both personal and institutional holders, with pricing trading in the 90's for larger blocks. There remains a high opportunity cost to holding claims. Buyers remain hopeful of an uplift in the standard Fed reference rate to juice returns above 108/109 over time. We don’t expect any imminent payouts. We were also active in Genesis claims which have been less liquid. Positive updates regarding recoveries, distributions and pricing was compelling (especially for non-dollar claims) which has sparked a resurgence in seller interest. If you are looking for liquidity for your claim but do not want to deal with an illiquid rump later this year, DS3 can help. Given our background in special situations, we have been involved in facilitating some unique structures involving crypto and distressed debt with holders looking to unlock liquidity as the market recovers, involving complex pricing and legal work around asset treatment. In our consultancy business, we announced our partnership with Swissblock Technologies AG where DS3 will lead the commercial build out as Swissblock take 8 years of proven crypto trading experience and share their investment approach, framework and tools with targeted key partners. This echoes our firm ethos and recent momentum of working with the highest quality operators looking to utilise our network and expertise. Our pipeline continues to build and we are in discussions with Swiss and US companies interested partnerships - we hope to be able to announce some of these shortly. Other exciting developments include DS3 Crypto formally announcing Jamie Knowles as our Chief Commercial Officer as well as adding European and US based senior consultants across product, operations and trading technology. Other themes we see: Non-European market makers looking to sell spot and derivatives liquidity into EMEA. Selling “Reg Tech” to Banks and other Financial Institutions. US based funds looking for regulatory help in APAC, Europe, UK. Ongoing enquiries regarding Fund Set up and Capital Raising. Explorative M&A conversations. Ongoing Fund Raising for various start ups - busy with Founder / VC introductions. Finally Given the reflexivity of crypto, there remains high demand for consultants who are able to be deployed quickly on-site or remote. We have been adding to our pool of human capital and openly welcome applications from trustworthy, leading, experienced professionals with unique skill sets and feel they are able to add value in this capacity. DS3 will be attending Token2049, Dubai. If there is a problem your business is facing, we welcome the chance to explore how we can help you solve specific issues and getting closer to achieving your strategic aims.

DS3 Crypto is delighted to announce our latest partnership with Swissblock Technologies AG. This is a great emblem for DS3 Crypto's team of Consultants - we’ve developed a strong rapport and deep respect for the Swissblock team over a number of business interactions in recent years. It’s our privilege to help them grow their next project.

With our new partners we are now in a position to help you process the sale of your FTX claims and receive funds same day. We are also now able to deal with personal as well as institutional claims of all sizes. DM for details.

DS3 Crypto - January Update Throughout January, DS3 has observed a diverse spectrum of inquiries spanning distressed assets, crypto hedge fund trading (CeFi and DeFi) as well as the quantitative and regulatory landscapes. FTX Claims We remain actively involved as one of the largest facilitators of FTX claim transactions in the sector. Interest persists with trading values between 75-80 cents. We’ve seen an increase in personal claims being sold as well as more institutional activity. With increased crypto volatility, trading opportunities, ETF news flow and access to liquidity becoming harder, holding your claim becomes harder to justify on a cost of capital basis. Pricing up and getting your claim processed to payment can now be achieved within days. Consultants Our team sees 3 main themes. Firstly, demand for consultancy services remains high in this environment as the shorter term, project nature of the work allows flexibility with an uncertain revenue backdrop. Secondly, crypto hedge funds want access to capital and allocators but haven’t yet found the right business model. Thirdly, the spread in hedge fund performance (and risk management performance) is wide alongside new AI quantitative launches coming to market.