Key Takeaways
- • Bitfinex has listed Fulgur Alpha, a $280 million Bahamas-based absolute-returns crypto hedge fund, making it accessible to accredited investors and marking the exchange's first crypto hedge fund listing.
- • The minimum investment is $10 million, according to Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino, as told to The Block.
- • Fulgur Alpha's structure separates trading venue (Bitfinex), custody (Delchain Limited), and fund management (Deltec Fund Services), which Bitfinex says replicates a traditional hedge fund model.
- • The fund is not available to residents of the US, Bahamas, or restricted jurisdictions including Iran and North Korea.
- • Bitfinex expects more funds to adopt the framework in 2020-2021, citing investor protection and added controls.
Summary
Bitfinex, a cryptocurrency exchange, has listed its first crypto hedge fund, Fulgur Alpha, which it says is now accessible to institutional and accredited investors. According to The Block, the fund has $280 million in assets and carries a minimum investment of $10 million for accredited investors, as stated by Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino.
Bitfinex describes Fulgur Alpha as a Bahamas-based absolute-returns crypto hedge fund. Absolute return strategies aim to deliver stable returns across market conditions and are typically favored by conservative investors. The fund's assets are held at Delchain Limited, a crypto custody provider, and the fund is managed by Deltec Fund Services, a Bahamas-based fund administrator and division of Deltec International Group. Bitfinex is supplying the trading infrastructure.
Ardoino said the structure mirrors traditional hedge fund models, combining a trading venue, a custody solution, and a fund manager. He noted that while Bitfinex already serves numerous large accounts, from professional traders to crypto hedge funds, this is the first time a fund of this size has onboarded through this ad-hoc framework. Bruno Macchialli, executive head of operations at Delchain, called the fund a "unique proposition" and "a blueprint for institutional investment in crypto."
Access is restricted: the fund is not available to residents of the US, the Bahamas, or restricted jurisdictions such as Iran and North Korea. Ardoino expects the framework to become a growing trend in 2020-2021, arguing it offers more investor protection and controls, and he pointed to rising demand for crypto-custody integrations in 2020 as custody providers serve a growing number of crypto-oriented and partially crypto-allocating funds.
Bitfinex describes Fulgur Alpha as a Bahamas-based absolute-returns crypto hedge fund. Absolute return strategies aim to deliver stable returns across market conditions and are typically favored by conservative investors. The fund's assets are held at Delchain Limited, a crypto custody provider, and the fund is managed by Deltec Fund Services, a Bahamas-based fund administrator and division of Deltec International Group. Bitfinex is supplying the trading infrastructure.
Ardoino said the structure mirrors traditional hedge fund models, combining a trading venue, a custody solution, and a fund manager. He noted that while Bitfinex already serves numerous large accounts, from professional traders to crypto hedge funds, this is the first time a fund of this size has onboarded through this ad-hoc framework. Bruno Macchialli, executive head of operations at Delchain, called the fund a "unique proposition" and "a blueprint for institutional investment in crypto."
Access is restricted: the fund is not available to residents of the US, the Bahamas, or restricted jurisdictions such as Iran and North Korea. Ardoino expects the framework to become a growing trend in 2020-2021, arguing it offers more investor protection and controls, and he pointed to rising demand for crypto-custody integrations in 2020 as custody providers serve a growing number of crypto-oriented and partially crypto-allocating funds.
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