Regulators in Singapore gave the green light to Fintonia Group to release two investment funds backed by Bitcoin.

Singapore-based mutual fund manager Fintonia Group received the required green light from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to launch two institutional Bitcoin funds.

As the firm reported in a statement, the two funds, dubbed the Fintonia Bitcoin Physical Fund and the Fintonia Secured Yield Fund, are institutional-grade investment products directly backed by Bitcoin. Particularly the first gets based on physical or cash bitcoins, as explained by the founder and president of Fintonia Group, Adrian Chng, to a local media.

Two New Institutional Bitcoin Funds

Regarding the Fintonia Secured Yield Fund, the fund manager highlighted that it is a product that intends to give investors access to private loans guaranteed by Bitcoin.

The founder stressed in the statement that Bitcoin is an excellent form of collateral for loans. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is highly liquid, with approximately $ 30 billion to $ 60 billion per day. If necessary, it can get quickly liquidated compared to raw materials and Physical assets.

The company stated that both products got designed to provide professional investors with simple, safe, and long-term exposure to the leading cryptocurrency. The president of Fintonia commented on this subject to Cointelegraph.

According to its founder, both funds rely on a third-party licensed custodian that stores clients’ cryptocurrencies in cold wallets. Investments get insured against theft and piracy too.

An Option for Professional Investors

Founded in 2014, Fintonia Group is a financial services company with a focus on fintech. The firm, which claims to be involved with cryptocurrencies since its early days, gets regulated by Singapore’s watchdog. Fintonia also has a license from the local authority, but it still requires special authorization for the release of funds.

Fintonia’s latest launch arrives in response to growing institutional demand for the new asset class. The company further said that its goal is to reduce the friction between crypto and fiat by being a regulatory administrator for MAS that meets the requirements of know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML).

Singapore Opens up to Cryptocurrencies

Singapore maintains a relatively open approach towards digital currencies; despite the managing director of the MAS, Ravi Menon said that the body disapproves of cryptocurrencies or tokens as an investment asset for retail investors. Menon, who expressed his concerns during the Fintech Festival earlier this month, warned about volatility and potential investment risks in such assets.

However, Chng believes that in the long term, a clear regulatory framework in Singapore will likely lead to even more positive developments for the cryptocurrency world in the country. Along that path, he considered that crypto investment products would be vital in opening the door for more investors to the market.

The launch of the Bitcoin funds in Singapore comes a few weeks after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the first exchange-traded funds (ETFs) of bitcoin futures in that country.

By: Jenson Nuñez

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here