Holon Unveils Australia’s First Unlisted Funds in Partnership With Gemini (Report)

Digital asset venture capital firm, Holon Global Investments, has launched three new crypto funds –  Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Filecoin (FIL) in partnership with Gemini.

These are Australia’s first unlisted retail funds which would provide passive exposure to the spot prices of the three crypto-assets. Moreover, the Holon Filecoin Fund happens to be the first retail-managed investment vehicle for digital assets outside of Bitcoin and Ethereum to be registered with ASIC.

New Retail Funds in Detail

According to the report, each fund will charge a management fee of 0.40% a year, or 40 basis points, i.e., 67% less than the 1.25% fee charged by the first batch of cryptocurrency ETFs in Australia. Additionally, the expenses of the new products are capped at 0.4% a year.

Following the launch, Holon head of asset management Rory Scott was quoted saying,

“We don’t think we’re adding an enormous amount of value here, and so we shouldn’t be charging an enormous fee. We’ve looked at every part of the value chain and worked out whether we think there’s value in the fee being charged to us as a product provider, and whether there might be a smarter way to do that.”

The firm’s chief executive Heath Behncke revealed that it took about a year to secure approvals from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which oversees the company, financial services, and funds.

During this phase, the market saw a dramatic turn for the worse. Despite the persistent bearish sentiment, though, Holon believes in the growing demand for investors seeking to access the market with the help of a regulated, traditional format like a managed fund.

Leveraging Gemini’s Custody Solutions

Behncke believes the launch is a landmark for the Australian cryptocurrency space and that the funds have been designed to include Gemini’s institutional grade custody to offer market players lucratively priced exposure.

“We are huge believers in the potential for blockchain and cryptocurrency to revolutionize key areas of the global and Australian economy, including finance and data storage. But Australian investors, financial investors, and financial advisers have struggled to find regulated ways to invest.”

Gemini and Holon’s relationship dates back to August 2021, when the duo partnered to launch the Wholesale Filecoin Fund.

Led by high-profile twin tech investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the crypto exchange recently received authorization to operate as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in Ireland. At the backdrop of the expansion, however, Gemini has laid off at least 68 workers to fight the crypto winter with “extreme cost-cutting” measures.

The article was first published on: Jul 28, 2022