Gathering the right team

As a first of its kind in the UK, we understood the importance of gathering the right providers for the job.

Gathering the right team

Due to the high level of security and flexibly offered, the fund would be investing in bitcoin itself, rather than a proxy like an ETF for example, so identifying the right team was imperative.

From November 2023 onward, we began an extensive search.

In February of the following year, after evaluating a total of 69 asset managers in our search for the right provider, we chose a best-in-class bitcoin asset management firm.

Their specialised focus on bitcoin, robust custodial security measures and willingness to constantly improve their security made them the stand out choice.

Finally, to ensure the highest level of confidence in our choice we sought legal advice and appointed an operational due diligence company to deep-dive into the firm.

Next, we looked at how to efficiently transfer the scheme’s assets. We decided upon a digital asset platform, headquartered in London and registered with the Financial Conduct Authority.

Backed by SC Ventures, the innovation unit of Standard Chartered Bank and OSL Group, Asia’s leading digital asset company, the firm provides an institution-first combination of traditional finance capability with the always-on performance of digital assets.

We also modelled extreme scenarios. For this Scheme, if the bitcoin price were to immediately fall to zero, then the expected time horizon could rise from ten years, to ten years and three months. Whereas best estimate returns reduce it to eight years. This clearly shows the asymmetric risk profile.