In The News - Wall Street Journal - Hedge Funds Grow Wary of Cryptocurrency Mania

The Wall Street Journal highlighted the performance of the Altana Digital Currency Fund in 2017 and quoted Lee Robinson.

Bitcoin’s rise of more than 13-fold in 2017 helped fuel a stellar year for the still-small number of hedge funds dedicated to cryptocurrency investing. An index of about 17 cryptocurrency hedge funds from data provider HFR Inc. rose almost 3,000% in 2017, light-years ahead of the 8.7% average return across the global hedge-fund industry.

Several crypto-focused funds now say it is time for a break.

“You need to sit down and put a towel on your head and have a think about things,” said Lee Robinson, founder of Monaco-based hedge-fund firm Altana Wealth, whose $45 million cryptocurrency fund returned roughly 1,500% last year.”

Mr. Robinson said he became concerned when the time taken for the price of cryptocurrencies to double was halving late last year, a sign the market was overheated.

He said the fund is now positioned to profit from price falls on stocks associated with bitcoin and blockchain technology, and cut back its bet on rising cryptocurrency prices. Blockchain is the technology that underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and records transactions on a public ledger.

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Source: The Wall Street Journal, Written by Gregor Stuart Hunter & Laurence Fletcher