New vehicle for investment

SYGNIA: REGULATED BITCOIN EXPOSURE

- Moneyweb

Sygnia has launched South Africa's first investment vehicle that offers regulated bitcoin exposure.

The Sygnia Life Bitcoin Plus Fund launched on 1 June and is "benchmarked against the performance of the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ETF (exchange-traded fund).

The fund allows investors to tap into bitcoin's price movements, providing an effective way for investors to diversify their portfolio.

Effectively, the fund will buy that exposure to bitcoin via the US-based ETF.

BlackRock launched the IBIT ETF last year and it "enables investors to get exposure to bitcoin through the convenience of an exchange-traded product, helping remove the operational, tax and custody complexities of holding bitcoin directly."

BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager by assets under management ($10.5 trillion, as at March 2024).

Sygnia says the fund "uses derivatives to boost its returns by adding extra income from South African money market investments, compared to holding overnight cash".

"This helps increase the overall return beyond what the underlying market provides," it says.