Arrano Capital Launches First Sanctioned Hong Kong Crypto Fund

Today, Venture Smart Asia has, through its blockchain arm, Arrano Capital, launched the first cryptocurrency fund within Hong Kong with official approval. As it stands now, the fund’s goal is to own $100 million in assets under management before the end of its first year.

Larger Aspirations Than Tracking Fund

According to a report from Bloomberg, Arrano Capital made the announcement of rolling out a new Bitcoin (learn more about how to buy Bitcoin with debit card fund within Hong Kong itself. The venture capital firm was quick to point out that it had satisfied the conditions to be a licensed crypto fund under the regulations of the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong or SFC.

Avaneesh Acquilla, the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Arrano, stated that the beginning would only act as a tracker fund, buying and selling BTC. Regardless of what it is, the firm has set a goal to pass the $100 million mark in terms of digital assets under management, planning to do so within the first year of its operation. Acquilla has expressed hopes of launching a second fund later in 2020, one actively managing the assets with a basket of tokens.

Meeting Regulated Demands

Acquilla further explained that the decision to launch the fund in the first place was in order to meet the demand currently available with professional investors. These investors are focusing more and more on Bitcoin as a way to store value through an alternative format, according to Acquilla. The CIO explained that Bitcoin’s widespread acceptance ultimately comes down to regulation, as regulation increases trust in an asset to the public at large.

It was back in October of 2018 when the SFC had announced it would start formal regulations of cryptocurrency exchanges. Ever since the announcement, very few businesses within Hong Kong have managed to gain approval from the regulator. The very first blockchain financial service firm to obtain such approval was Diginex. The firm managed to gain permission to regulate various digital assets back in June of 2019.

Mainstream Integration

With Venture Smart Asia’s application being approved, this marks the first officially regulated crypto fund within the Hong Kong special economic region. This allows for conventional investors to use this fund as a window into the world of the biggest cryptocurrency out there: BTC. Should a firm not meet all the extensive criteria of the SFC, they are only capable of marketing themselves to professional-level investors. Crypto is a hotbed of volatility, and Hong Kong is trying to prevent unprepared investors from losing money through it.