Brevan Howard’s crypto fund up 35% in Q1, outpaces hedge fund

Brevan Howard’s BH Digital crypto fund emerges as a standout performer so far in the hedge firm’s ecosystem, boasting gains of nearly 35% in Q1.

BH Digital, a Brevan Howard crypto fund that manages $1.7 billion, returned 34.5% in Q1, outpacing the hedge firm’s flagship Master Fund, according to a Bloomberg report, which cites people familiar with the matter as a source. With the latest performance data, BH Digital gained over 50% since the fund started trading in March 2022, the people added.

As per the report, Master Fund — manages around $12 billion and invests in equities, fixed income, currencies, and commodities — was down around 2% in Q1. The Alpha Strategies fund — which invests in global macro, and fixed income and has around $12.5 billion in assets under management — also lost around 1.3% over the same period.

Despite the notable gains, BH Digital still lagged behind the returns of certain cryptocurrencies. For example, Bitcoin (BTC) recorded a year-to-date (YTD) return at around 67.1% as of press time, while Binance Coin (BNB) witnessed a 95% YTD return, according to data from MarketWatch.

Launched in late 2021, BH Digital offers institutional investors access to a diverse range of funding opportunities, including investments in liquid cryptocurrencies, and venture capital within the crypto market.

The future performance of BH Digital remains uncertain, as some crypto executives speculate that Bitcoin’s recent rally may already be priced in, at least partially. Fred Thiel, CEO of Marathon Digital Holdings, the largest public U.S. crypto mining company, attributed Bitcoin’s surge to an all-time high in part to the approval of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which has attracted increased capital into the market. Thiel also suggested that the upcoming Bitcoin halving — scheduled for mid-April — might already be priced in.