Asset managers are preparing a major offensive of cryptocurrency products for all audiences
Impeccable. That is how managers and the vast majority of experts describe the set of rules of the game that the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) has put on the table so that investment funds and sicav can invest in cryptocurrencies. The roadmap to fill the immense legal vacuum surrounding everything to do with investment in the fashionable product is provoking an immediate reaction from fund managers, who are preparing a major offensive.
"We were just waiting for the starting signal to launch products to invest in tokens. We are aware of the limitations, but at the moment we have a great starting point. We have spent a long time designing the products that will very soon see the light of day," say a large national fund manager, which has no doubts about cryptocurrencies. "The path they have started as tradable assets has no way back," they say.
In Spain, it will start practically from scratch. At present, there are no funds that have modified their prospectuses to include cryptocurrencies in their portfolios. Therefore, they will have to start on a journey that the big international investment giants, such as BlackRock and Fidelity, have already begun. In most of these cases, these are products for professional investors with high barriers to entry.
"The CNMV has opened the door to investment in cryptocurrencies as long as it is through financial instruments whose profitability is linked to these currencies, which are traded daily and whose prices are formed with operations carried out by third parties. This means that the door is open to the more or less massive marketing of exchange-traded funds or ETFs", say sources at a large fund manager that will soon be selling its first products linked to cryptocurrencies.
Among fund managers, there is some surprise at the strong demand for these products among their clients. Despite the extraordinary volatility of cryptocurrencies - last week, in a single day of collapse, more than 400 billion dollars of the total valuation of these assets fell by the wayside - large, medium and small investors want to start participating in this new gold rush in the form of virtual currencies.
We are living through a real revolution. For many managers, cryptos are a very effective way of diversifying portfolios. Even among the most prudent, the idea is spreading that a small (or very small) part of the investment can be allocated to the most liquid tokens such as bitcoin or ethereum. The truth is that hardly anyone wants to give up their stake in the trendy asset that is also all the rage in Spain.
"We must send our clients a message of caution, of going very slowly. The CNMV will force us to clearly and forcefully explain the risks associated with investing in these assets. This is a key and necessary element, because we are talking about a very new world that is difficult for ordinary investors to understand and leaves a lot of unknowns. What is clear is that there is a whole universe of opportunities ahead," say industry sources.
In any case, the fund managers are pleased that the CNMV has taken the decision to set the rules of the game - they are already very strict when it comes to advertising crypto-assets - instead of washing its hands of a business that is growing at an unstoppable rate. "It is good that we are all aware that, regardless of whether we like them more or less, you can't put gates on the sea. Now it's time to put products on the market", say one of the country's largest asset managers.
