Big Fish Only: Coinbase Opens First Crypto Index Fund for Accredited U.S. Investors

Industry 1 min, 42 sec READ

by Tom Nyarunda

The Index Fund is only open for large-scale investors and gives accredited U.S. investors exposure to all digital currencies on the GDAX exchange

Coinbase has presented its Coinbase Index Fund to investors. The fund is only available to accredited U.S. investors who wish to invest between $250,000 and $20 million. 

The announcement specified that the Index Fund had registered overwhelming interest from potential investors. The index fund will give investors access to all the digital assets listed on Coinbase, which include Bitcoin 61.47%, Ethereum 27.17%, Bitcoin Cash 8.22%, and Litecoin 3.14% and soon Ethereum Classic, but they could add more if Coinbase lists them in the future. Coinbase's Asset Management Product Leader Reuben Bramanathan wrote on the official blog:  

We've seen overwhelming interest from investors since we announced the fund earlier this year. At this stage, we have opened the fund to those who wish to invest $250,000 to $20 [million].

Crypto Trading for Big Fish

The Fund was first announced in March when Coinbase noted that it would give exposure to assets listed on GDAX, the Coinbase crypto exchange, which is now being downgraded in favor of the new Coinbase Pro Service. The Index Fund has been structured as a private fund intended to keep track of the fixed-supply Coinbase index. This measures the general performance of digital currencies on GDAX at a 2 percent management fee. Bramanathan elaborated on the prohibitive criteria for becoming an “accredited investor”,

At this stage, the Index Fund is only open to US-resident accredited investors…. we are working on launching more funds which are accessible to all investors and cover a broader range of digital assets…In the future, we hope to offer index investing to customers in the US and internationally.

The Fund is part of the company’s vision to expand its portfolio of products and services to accommodate institutional investors and high-stakes players. In May, the company announced four new products intended for corporate investors focused on reducing security and regulatory concerns that have made them shy away from joining the crypto space.