Virtual gets real

Hold on to your trousers and strap in tight, the biggest crypto story since Bletchley Park is back.

You may need to suspend a healthy portion of disbelief before you stick the hard-earned cash into an asset that’s based on playplay mining to generate a virtual token backed by nothing but thin air, but there’s no arguing with the numbers. After losing more than 60% of its value in 2022, bitcoin has come thundering back with a gain of more than 160% this year, outperforming any other asset class by a country mile.

Adding to crypto’s general mad hatter’s tea party feel, the recovery has really kicked off since the US secured the criminal prosecutions of two of the biggest names in the sector: Changpeng Zhao of Binance and Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX. Binance also picked up a $4.3bn fine for breaching money-laundering and financial sanctions laws and will make a “complete exit” from the US. True believers are betting that the worst of the regulatory chaos is over, and now the institutional investors will pile in.

Some are arguing that markets have regained an appetite for risk, on growing suspicion that the Federal Reserve is likely to start cutting interest rates sooner than it is indicating now. There’s also optimism that the US will give regulatory approval to spot bitcoin exchange traded funds, which would allow mainstream asset managers to offer crypto exposure to investors who have an appetite but would rather it didn’t come with a side helping of self-destructing exchanges and imploding digital wallets. It’s certain to be a bumpy ride.

That all comes as the company is making a mighty big bet on building a crop nutrients business