European Macro Hedge Fund Brevan Howard To Purchase $84M in Crypto

Brevan Howard is the latest asset management firm to delve into the booming crypto space. As per a Bloomberg report, the European hedge fund plans to invest 1.5% of its $5.6 bn assets under management into digital currencies. The firm will therefore buy about $84 million in cryptocurrencies for its clients.

Brevan Howard Fund’s Position

Per the report, Brevan’s crypto fund will have a diverse portfolio that includes top digital assets such as BTC and several other undisclosed cryptocurrencies. In the past, the macro fund refrained from exposing its clients directly to crypto despite betting on several crypto businesses over the years.

The initial allocation will be overseen by Tucker Waterman and Johnny Steindorff, co-founders of Distributed Global, a crypto venture firm in which Brevan Howard is an investor.

At this point, it is unclear whether One River Digital, a digital assets company whose parent company is also partly owned by Brevan Howard, will participate in the fund.

Cryptocurrencies Are Going Mainstream

Brevan Howard’s decision to finally exploit the ongoing crypto boom continues a trend of multiple billionaire hedge funds warming up to the nascent asset class.

Other top money managers such as Marc Lasry and Paul Tudor Jones have recently placed massive bets on cryptocurrencies, signaling that the asset class is finally ready to go mainstream.

Big financial institutions on Wall Street have also started turning into prominent crypto supporters, citing their plans to diversify their portfolios with BTC amid mounting central-bank-induced inflation. 

One of the earliest corporate backers of BTC, Microstrategy, views the flagship cryptocurrency as a better investment than gold, stocks, and commodities. The business intelligence firm’s CEO Michael Saylor recently hailed bitcoin as a mature store of value against a depreciating world reserve currency. 

Several respected investors such as Jack Dorsey and Stanley Druckenmiller have also procured BTC following a year of record gains for the digital asset.

The recent direct listing of Coinbase Global Inc. on the US stock market marked a watershed moment for the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies. The popular exchange hit a valuation of over $112 billion after going public on April 14.

Brevan Howard’s Co-Founder Is an Avid Bitcoin Investor

Brevan Howard is entering familiar territory with the rollout of its crypto fund. The asset management firm’s co-founder Alan Howard has invested a significant portion of his wealth in crypto-assets and has vast experience in the field.

In October of Last year, Allan’s macro hedge fund bought a 25% stake in One River Asset Management, a US-based company valued at $2.5 billion that offers its clients a crypto fund. Alan Howard has also been a billionaire investor in California-based crypto investment firm Distributed Global since 2018.