VCI Global is spending $2.16 billion to buy Bitcoin, planning to use them to issue RWAs. In this way, it’s preparing for a scenario where BTC is largely inaccessible to average retail investors.
The firm’s plan also involves a few ancillary infrastructure roles, advertising custody services and some unspecified AI tasks. In the main, though, the diminishing supply of Bitcoin is VCI Global’s biggest concern.
VCI Global’s RWA Plan
Corporate Bitcoin acquisition is thriving right now, with rising demand in Asia making up for tapering US interest. Several Japanese firms bought more BTC than Strategy last week, while an American firm spent $679 million on the token today.
As Bloomberg ETF analyst Nate Geraci put it, these firms have an advantage over retail buyers:
So, what’s the crypto community supposed to do? ETF issuers are buying more Bitcoin than miners can mint, and there’s only 1.5 million BTC left. VCI Global, a Malaysian firm, is preparing for this future with a $2 billion bet on Bitcoin RWAs.
Specifically, the company announced a $2.16 billion fund to “enable sovereign-ready digital ecosystems,” but a lot of its goals seem a little unclear. It’s going to stockpile BTC, ostensibly for several purposes, including custody services and some AI compute roles.
VCI Global’s most direct plan, though, is to use this Bitcoin to begin issuing a new RWA:
A World Without Bitcoin?
Experts have already been wondering about a world without Bitcoin, but this RWA plan might be a good test program. Some analysts theorized that major holders could become liquidity providers, but these treasury firms aren’t spearheading any concrete programs. VCI Global might have found a way to keep capital circulating.
However, there are some serious obstacles to this vision. A recent study claims that the RWA market is vastly underperforming; crypto-native firms represent most of the investment. TradFi institutions are using their resources to directly buy Bitcoin, and they might not have a use for an RWA.
Moreover, the BTC supply won’t completely dry up for quite a while. Even if Bitcoin treasury firms want to attempt something like this RWA plan in the future, that might not help VCI Global. Indeed, RWAs may not even be a competitive market sector whenever these issues become truly pressing.
When that day comes, ETFs might be the preferred vehicle, especially for TradFi institutions. In-kind minting and redemptions are already legal in the United States, allowing big corporate holders to interface directly with ETF issuers.
Still, this is a useful experiment. One day, we will run out of BTC, at least for practical purposes. If we want to find out how the crypto community can function in these conditions, it’s best to start researching early.
The post $2 Billion BTC RWA Plan Bets on A World Without Bitcoin appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Source: https://beincrypto.com/bitcoin-rwa-plan-vci-global-diminishing-supply/
