Renaissance Technologies’ Medallion Funds to Access CME Bitcoin Futures 

Medallion Funds, one of the United States’ most valuable hedge funds, has gotten approval from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to offer its investors access to Bitcoin futures. 

According to a filing with the financial regulator that was initially published late last month, the company will now grant access to cash-settled Bitcoin futures from the Chicago Mercantile (CME) Group. 

A Significant Crypto Endorsement 

“The Medallion Funds are permitted to enter into bitcoin futures transactions, which Renaissance (i.e., Renaissance Technologies, Medallion’s parent company) will limit to cash-settled futures contracts traded on the CME,” the report states.

The Medallion Funds is considered by many to be one of the most lucrative and successful hedge funds in Wall Street history. The firm gained 71 percent annual return, before fees, from 1994 to mid-2014. Despite the firm’s success, however, it has managed to operate behind the scenes. 

Medallion is so successful that the company was able to make 24 percent year-to-day returns in the past year. Per a report from the Wall Street Journal, the company had made 39 percent before fees – a feat which makes this entire achievement even more encouraging. 

A significant amount of the firm’s impressive figures came from its performance in March, where it was up 9.9 percent from the previous month. Even though March was one of the worst months on Wall Street record, the firm was still able to post significant profits. This was also despite the steep investor fees, which included a 36 percent cut on all trading gains and a 5 percent cut on all cash invested. 

Despite the company’s notoriety for doing things lowkey, however, there was no way its entry into the Bitcoin investment space was going to be kept secret. Medallion’s endorsement of crypto is a significant one, as it marks another vital point that Bitcoin might be ready for the big time. 

Great Timing from Medallion 

The firm also appears to be entering the market at a pretty great time. Bitcoin is continuing its 3-week surge, and the investment space also appears to be stable. Recent data from the CME itself shows that its investment products reached an all-time high in accounts opened last month, with a combined annual growth rate of 161 percent. 

CME isn’t the only institutional investment firm that’s doing well. Grayscale Investments, one of the best crypto asset management firms of 2019, recently published its quarterly report for Q1 2020. In it, the firm announced that its ten crypto funds attracted $500 million in investments – a milestone that makes Q1 2020 the company’s best quarter ever. Despite the slump in Bitcoin prices and investor fear that gripped the market as a result of the coronavirus, Grayscale was still able to weather the storm significantly.

The company also confirmed that one of its funds – the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) – now holds 1.6 percent of all the Bitcoin in circulation.