2021 has proven to be a big year for the cryptocurrency market. Not only have the leading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin seen their market capitalization increase significantly, the space has also attracted a great deal of investment from people all over the globe. Now, a superannuation fund by the name of Rest Super, which is based in Australia, has announced that it will be making investments in the crypto space as well. However, this makes this investment fund to be the first of its kind in Australia to have made such a move. The total value of assets that are under the management of the Rest Super Fund in Australia is about $46.8 billion.
Its total number of members is around 1.8 million. All employees in Australia are required to have the retirement account known as Rest Super and it is mandatory for everyone. The investment fund’s chief investment officer, Andrew Lill spoke during the annual general meeting of the company. He stated that crypto assets were becoming an important part of the firm’s investment portfolio. However, he did note that the fund was planning on moving cautiously regarding this matter. Lill said that this investment was a very volatile one.
Therefore, he asserted that whatever allocation exposure they decide to make to cryptocurrencies was most likely going to be a part of a diversified portfolio. He clarified that it was going to be a small investment initially and they would gradually build it up over time. Lill also added that there was a strong possibility that blockchain technology and crypto assets could end up providing value to its members. He also said that cryptocurrencies are a good hedge against inflation and this make them an excellent investment right now, considering the conditions. It is worth noting that the remarks by Rest Super are completely different from a statement made by another fund named Australian Super, which is worth $167 billion.
Paul Schroder, the chief executive officer of Australian Super, said that it did not consider cryptocurrencies as an investable option for any of its members. Likewise, Queensland Investment Corporation also denied claims in October that it was considering investing in the crypto space. The company stated that all reports regarding this matter had been ‘incorrectly implied’. It said that it was not making any moves for adopting digital assets. These recent remarks come as there is a bullish trend that can be seen in the Australian crypto market.
A number of recommendations were put forward by an Australian Senate Committee last month that were aimed at regulating the crypto sector. Moreover, it was also announced by the biggest bank in Australia, i.e. the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, that they would begin offering crypto trading services via their bank app. Matt Damon, the chief executive of the bank, said this week that even though there was a risk of making investments in cryptocurrencies, there was a bigger risk of missing out by not making investments in cryptocurrencies in the current climate.