Taking the initiative! Two major asset management giants plan to launch cryptocurrency funds

CoinDesk said the fund will be available to clients of JPMorgan’s private wealth unit, following an initiative launched earlier this year by Wall Street rival Morgan Stanley to offer a bitcoin fund to private clients including Galaxy Digital, FS Investments and NYDIG.

The news came as Bitcoin rebounded more than 10% on Monday, reaching $54,000 per coin. Bitcoin's mainstream acceptance is also surging, with PayPal last month announcing plans to allow its customers to use cryptocurrencies to purchase goods and services at more than 29 million merchants around the world.

However, Bitcoin’s use in transactions for goods and services remains very small, with a recent Bank of America study noting that Bitcoin’s complex settlement procedures carry huge environmental costs and are a factor in its slow transaction processing speed, which is just 14,000 per hour. By comparison, Visa processes more than 236 million transactions per hour.

However, with major companies like Tesla, Square, and Twitter increasing their Bitcoin investments, and retail investors pouring into the world of cryptocurrencies at a record pace, JPMorgan Chase's decision to safeguard the interests of its clients makes business sense.

Coincidentally, CI Global Asset Management (CI GAM) announced on Monday the launch of the CI Ethereum Fund, the world's first mutual fund to invest in Ethereum, a cryptocurrency built on the Ethereum blockchain. CI Global Asset Management is the largest investment management company in Canada. Kurt MacAlpine, CEO of CI Financial, the parent company of CI GAM, said:

“CI GAM is the only company in the world that offers convenient, low-cost and secure exposure to the two largest cryptocurrencies through ETFs and mutual funds. Importantly, these products allow investors to access these digital assets through their financial advisors and can be added to investors’ existing portfolios and investment plans. Establishing a leadership position in the digital asset space is an important part of CI GAM’s mission as digital assets become increasingly mainstream.”

The investment objective of the CI Ethereum Fund is to provide holders with exposure to Ethereum through an institutional-grade fund platform. The main benefits of investing in the CI Ethereum Fund include gaining exposure to Ethereum in a convenient manner, which provides potential diversification benefits due to its low correlation with other asset classes.