First Irish Funds to invest in CRYPTOASSETS

This blog by Peter Oakes, Founder of Fintech Ireland and CompliReg.  Peter qualified as a lawyer in Australia, the UK and Ireland.  He is a director of a number of regulated innovative fintech and adviser to fintech and crypto firms and their professional service providers. Contact him here and follow him on Linkedin and Twitter (Fintech Ireland Twitter). 

A summary of this material appears at Linkedin here 

The first Irish regulated funds to take exposure to crypto-assets have been approved by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI).

The funds, both Qualifying Investor AIFs (QIAIF), will obtain indirect exposure to Bitcoin, by acquiring cash-settled Bitcoin Futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). Before you get too excited looking to by some of the digital asset via the QIAIFs note that this channel of exposure is RESTRICTED TO PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS. [NB: As recently as March 2022 the the Central Bank has issued a warning on the risks of investing in crypto assets].  We have provided further details about the regulatory crypto investing landscape in Ireland under 'Further Reading' below.
 
Last month the CBI informed industry bodies that it had approved in principle at least one QIAIF with a low level of exposure to cash settled Bitcoin futures traded on the CME.
 
The two unnamed QIAIFs are the first type of such funds to provide indirect crypto exposure and approved by the CBI.
 
If you want your existing QIAIFs or you wish to establish a new QIAIF to obtain exposure to crypto assets, get in touch (details above).  I am asked on a regular basis by institutional investors and professional investors how they can get exposure to cryptocurrencies and other digitalassets via regulated products. Unless you are able to gain direct exposure via a virtual asset service provider (VASP), the Irish QIAIF model (non-UCITS) might be your avenue. Note however that the CBI has said it is highly unlikely to approve a UCITS proposing any exposure (either direct or indirect) to crypto assets. Thus retail investors wanting crypto exposure in Ireland need to turn to VASPs/Exchanges direct.

Through Fintech Ireland, CompliReg and the industry experts network, we know the lawyers, ManCos and depositories / custodians who can assist institutional/professional firms and funds promoters looking to gain exposure to the crypto markets.  Further, if you are seeking a registration as a virtual service asset provider or authorisation as a MiFID, emoney institution or payments institution to provide services to  institutional, professional and retail clients, check out our Authorisation Page.

Further reading:

• ID1145 - Central Bank of Ireland 44th Edition (20 December 2021) of the Central Bank AIFMD Q&A

​Question. Can a RIAIF or a QIAIF invest either directly or indirectly in crypto-assets?

Answer. Crypto-assets are generally considered to be private digital assets that depend primarily on cryptography and distributed ledger or similar technology. However, the nature and characteristics of crypto-assets vary considerably. For example, crypto-assets that are tokenised traditional assets (whose value is linked to an underlying traditional asset or a pool of traditional assets (such as financial instruments or commodities)) may have a different risk profile when compared to other crypto-assets that are based on an intangible or non-traditional underlying. For the purposes of this Q&A “crypto-asset” is used to refer to the latter type of crypto-asset. The Central Bank must be satisfied that direct or indirect exposure to crypto-assets is capable of being appropriately risk managed. As of the date of publication of this Q&A, the Central Bank has not seen information which would satisfy it that direct or indirect exposure to crypto-assets is capable of being appropriately risk managed. Though crypto-assets do not all have uniform characteristics, the Central Bank has noted that they can present significant risks, including liquidity risk; credit risk; market risk; operational risk (including fraud and cyber risks); money laundering / terrorist financing risk; and legal and reputation risks. Taking into account the specific risks attached to crypto-assets and the potential that retail investors will not be able to appropriately assess the risks of making an investment in a fund which gives such exposures, the Central Bank is highly unlikely to approve a RIAIF proposing any exposure (either direct or indirect) to crypto assets. In the case of a QIAIF seeking to gain exposure to crypto-assets, the relevant QIAIF would need to make a submission to the Central Bank outlining how the risks associated with such exposures could be managed effectively by the AIFM. The Central Bank’s approach in relation to crypto-assets will be kept under review, continue to be informed by European regulatory discussions on the topic and may change should new information or developments emerge in the future. 
​

• ​​ID 1100  - Central Bank of Ireland 36th edition (20 December 2021) of the Central Bank UCITS Q&A

​Question.  Can a UCITS invest either directly or indirectly in crypto-assets?

Answer. Crypto-assets are generally considered to be private digital assets that depend primarily on cryptography and distributed ledger or similar technology. However, the nature and characteristics of crypto-assets vary considerably. For example, crypto-assets that are tokenised traditional assets (whose value is linked to an underlying traditional asset or a pool of traditional assets (such as financial instruments or commodities)) may have a different risk profile when compared to other crypto-assets that are based on an intangible or non-traditional underlying. For the purposes of this Q&A “crypto-asset” is used to refer to the latter type of crypto-asset. The Central Bank must be satisfied that assets in which a UCITS invests are capable of meeting the eligible asset criteria for UCITS and that indirect exposure to the assets is capable of being appropriately risk managed. As of the date of publication of this Q&A, the Central Bank has not seen information which would satisfy it that crypto-assets are capable of meeting the eligible asset criteria for UCITS or that indirect exposure to crypto-assets is capable of being appropriately risk managed. Though crypto-assets do not all have uniform characteristics, the Central Bank has noted that they can present significant risks, including liquidity risk; credit risk; market risk; operational risk (including fraud and cyber risks); money laundering / terrorist financing risk; and legal and reputation risks. Taking into account the specific risks attached to crypto-assets and the potential that retail investors will not be able to appropriately assess the risks of making an investment in a fund which gives such exposures, the Central Bank is highly unlikely to approve a UCITS proposing any exposure (either direct or indirect) to crypto assets. The Central Bank’s approach in relation to crypto-assets will be kept under review, continue to be informed by European regulatory discussions on the topic and may change should new information or developments emerge in the future. 

• Central Bank of Ireland Warning (22 March 2022)

The Central Bank again emphasised that crypto assets are highly risky and speculative, and may not be suitable for retail customers. In particular people need to be alert to the risks of misleading advertisements, particularly on social media, where influencers are being paid to advertise crypto assets.  The Central Bank has published a plain English explainer for consumers on cryptocurrencies.

• European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, ESMA and EIOPA Warning (17 March 2022)

The ESAs warned consumers that many crypto-assets are highly risky and speculative. The ESAs set out key steps consumers can take to ensure they make informed decisions.