Hauck & Aufhäuser, one of Germany’s oldest traditional banks is boarding the cryptocurrency adoption train with the launch of a crypto fund in early 2021.
The move follows the bank’s acquisition of a capital management license from German regulators for its investment subsidiary back in September.
German Bank to Offer Fund for BTC, ETH, and XLM
According to Fundview, Hauck & Aufhäuser will roll out a crypto fund via its Hauck & Aufhäuser Innovative Capital (HAIC) GmbH subsidiary in Jan. 2021. Dubbed HAIC Digital Asset Fund I, the product will focus on Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Stellar (XLM).
HAIC will partner with Berlin-based digital banking platform Fintech Kapilendo to offer the crypto investment solution. According to reports, the crypto fund will be open to both institutional and semi-institutional investors.
The minimum investment in the fund is set at €200,000 ($242,500) with a 2.05% fee. Commenting on the decision, Hauck & Aufhäuser board member Holger Sepp remarked:
“We see that digital assets and cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly attractive to institutional investors. With the launch of our first crypto-fund, we have created an innovative investment vehicle together with Kapilendo, which provides our customers with a cost-effective and secure access to the novel crypto asset class.”
When launched, the HAIC crypto fund will represent a culmination of the bank’s crypto adoption policy in 2020.
Back in September, when Hauck & Aufhäuser scored a BaFin capital management company (KVG) license for its HAIC digital asset investment subsidiary, board chairman Michael Bentlage identified a growing appetite for cryptocurrency investments:
“Forecasts predict a growing demand for fund products for digital assets and we are also seeing strong interest on the customer side. Therefore it is important for us to set the right course at an early stage and to give our customers access to this innovative asset class,” Bentlage added at the time.
Germany’s Emerging Crypto Investment Scene
Established in 1796, Hauck & Aufhäuser’s crypto foray is indicative of the booming cryptocurrency investment scene in Germany. Back in August, BeInCrypto highlighted that the country was quietly establishing itself as a global superpower in the burgeoning industry.
This emerging crypto boom is due in large parts to a flurry of favorable regulations over the past year.
In Nov. 2019, German regulators removed previous legal prohibitions against Banks offering cryptocurrency-related services. Indeed, Hauck & Aufhäuser’s crypto fund would have been impossible without this decision.
In August 2020, the German Finance Ministry also introduced a draft law on tokenized blockchain securities. The move followed a stipulation from March that classified cryptocurrencies as financial instruments.
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