In today’s crypto-related news, Kazakhstan’s government is reportedly considering converting some of its national assets and gold holdings into digital assets, Schwab finds 45% of ETF investors plan to buy crypto ETFs, and Google is integrating predictive market data from Karshi and Polymarket into its search results.
Kazakhstan Could Increase Cryptocurrency Reserves by $1 Billion in Gold, Forex and Seized Assets
The Kazakh government is reportedly considering converting some of its state fund assets, as well as some of its gold and foreign exchange reserves, to fund virtual currency reserves.
According to the Central Asia Times, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Berik Sholpankurov announced the initiative at a recent parliament session. A report in Bloomberg Law on Friday suggested the government aims to allocate between $500 million and $1 billion for the effort.
“I think it will be operational by the end of the year, by January of next year,” Sholpankurov said, according to Bloomberg. Sholpankurov added that the creation of a government-controlled crypto asset fund is being discussed among government officials. “We are considering the possibility of using some of the assets of the State Fund, gold and foreign exchange reserves to invest in crypto assets,” he said.
A central bank official said the confiscated assets would be “transferred to the national digital asset fund” to be “kept in the government’s strategic stockpile.” He also said the Ministry of Digital Development is proposing to allow state-owned companies to supply energy to private cryptocurrency mining companies in exchange for cryptocurrencies.
Nearly half of ETF investors plan to purchase crypto ETFs
Nearly half of exchange-traded fund (ETF) investors plan to buy crypto ETFs, matching those who said they would buy bond ETFs, according to a study released Thursday by Schwab Asset Management.
Schwab found that of the 2,000 individual ETF investors surveyed, 52% plan to invest in U.S. stock ETFs, while 45% said they were interested in crypto ETFs, tied for second place with investors interested in U.S. bond ETFs.
“It was also shocking to see cryptocurrencies tied for second place with bonds as people’s investment destination,” said Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg. “Considering that cryptocurrencies represent 1% of the ETF’s total assets under management, it primarily punches above its weight.” [assets under management] Bonds, on the other hand, are at 17%. ”
Approximately 57% of Millennial respondents said they plan to invest in cryptocurrencies through ETFs, compared to 41% of Gen X respondents and 15% of Baby Boomers.
Balciunas said that overall, “the whole survey is very optimistic” about ETFs, and that “basically everyone is planning to increase their usage,” especially younger generations.
Google Finance adds predictive market data in new AI-powered update
As part of the AI-powered upgrade, Google is incorporating predictive market data from Kalshi and Polymarket into its search results, allowing users to see real-time probabilities of future market events directly within the platform.
Prediction market data will be made public in the coming weeks, and users will be able to see market odds and track how predictions have changed over time by typing questions directly into Google’s search bar, according to Thursday’s announcement.
This feature is part of an AI-powered makeover of Google Finance, Google’s free web service that provides real-time financial market data. This upgrade also introduces Deep Search, powered by the Gemini model, and new Live Earnings features.
Founded in 2020, Polymarket is a decentralized prediction platform on the Polygon blockchain where users trade on real-world events, and Kalshi, founded in 2018, is a US CFTC-regulated exchange that offers event contracts within the traditional financial system.
Both platforms allow users to bet on a wide range of events, from sports and political outcomes to unconventional questions such as “Will President Trump declassify UFO files by 2027?” “Will Zoran Mamdani freeze New York City rent next year?”