New York-based Neuberger Berman with $402 billion in assets under management, is the latest private investment firm to expand fund strategy to bitcoin and ethereum, a Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reveals.
The SEC filing says the firm’s Commodity Strategy Fund would allow its clients to access indirect exposure to bitcoin and ethereum futures for the very first time. Besides crypto derivatives, the commodity-focused mutual fund will also be able to invest in bitcoin trusts and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
“Effective immediately, Neuberger Berman Commodity Strategy Fund’s (the “Fund”) investment strategy will permit actively managed exposure to cryptocurrency investments and digital assets through (i) cryptocurrency derivatives, such as bitcoin futures and ether futures, and (ii) investments in bitcoin trusts and exchange-traded funds to gain indirect exposure to bitcoin,” the filing reads.
Earlier this year, Neuberger Berman published a blog entitled “The Bitcoin Experiment”, which stated that bitcoin was a “phenomenon worth watching closely” but the cryptocurrency should ultimately not be deemed part of a standard asset allocation.
“Instead, we’d rather view it as an option that pays off when expectations for an uncertain, inflationary future increase, and make the finite, non-human controlled supply dynamics of cryptocurrencies valuable,” the post summarized.
The cryptovirus continues to spread and deep-pocketed investors are rapidly contracting the bitcoin bug.
The crypto derivatives market, especially the BTC futures market, has drawn the attention of institutional behemoths in recent months. Wall Street investment firms are now clamoring to devise ways for customers to grab a piece of the once-obscure asset class.
Over a dozen companies have filed applications to launch ETFs based on the world’s largest cryptocurrency, but so far U.S. regulators have not approved any over concerns of price manipulation in the crypto market.
SEC chair Gary Gensler, however, raised hopes recently when he suggested that he would be inclined to greenlighting derivative exchange-traded funds rather than funds that wish to provide direct exposure by holding physical bitcoin.
A week after Gensler’s comments, VanEck, Invesco, and two other investment firms filed for bitcoin strategy ETFs with indirect exposure to bitcoin futures and other regulated investment vehicles.
BTCUSD Chart by TradingView
Bitcoin is experiencing one of its longest winning streaks this year. The latest announcement comes as the crypto climbs back above the $46K mark. As of press time, BTC stands at $46,462.88.
Litecoin has reignited its long-running rivalry with XRP after taking another provocative jab at the…
Digital IP entertainment company IPX (formerly LINE FRIENDS) plans to introduce a ‘minicoin’ payment service…
Laurent Correia treats making money and keeping it as two separate skills. After years in…
Ripple is expanding the XRP Ledger’s (XRPL) reach into digital payments through a partnership with…
Solana is under fresh pressure after falling below the important $107 support level. Analysts have…
In the Wu Blockchain interview, Justin Sun shared his bold decision to sell 80%-90% of…