Wall Street Asset Manager Stone Ridge Files to Add Bitcoin to its Diversified Alternatives Fund

New York City-based asset manager Stone Ridge has filed documents with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on behalf of its diversified alternatives fund to introduce BTC as the seventh investment strategy. 

• According to the filing with the SEC, the addition will become effective on April 26th, 2021. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the giant asset manager will proceed with its BTC endeavor.  
• The filing enables Stone Ridge to receive exposure for its diversified alternatives fund to Bitcoin through put options on BTC futures contracts. Put options allow investors to sell a certain amount at a pre-determined price in the future, but they are not obliged to.  
• The Wall Street firm suggested that future allocations in BTC could include putting funds in pooled investment vehicles with exposure to the cryptocurrency. 
• SkyBridge Capital’s Anthony Scaramucci also commented on the development and he classified it as a “big deal” that would “open the door for every mutual fund to add Bitcoin.
• Since 2012, Stone Ridge provides services to accredited investors as a registered investment advisor (RIA) and had over $13 billion in assets under management as of late 2020. 
• It’s worth noting that Stone Ridge already has substantial connections with the primary cryptocurrency. A Forbes article followed the path that started with staff members purchasing BTC for themselves years ago. 
• As the company was struggling with storing their funds, it founded the crypto asset manager New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) in 2017. The new endeavor raised over $6 billion in AUM in its four years of existence, and the Executive Chairman, Ross Stevens, recently projected $25 billion by the end of the year.