Dekabank, one of Germany’ largest asset managers, is considering investing in Bitcoin, a spokesman for the firm told Bloomberg today.
The news comes in advance of a new German law taking effect Monday that would make it possible for Spezialfonds to invest up to 20% of holdings in Bitcoin.
In Germany, special funds are mainly used for investments by institutions such as pension companies and insurers. Under this new legislation, Dekabank would become just one of about 4,000 German firms eligible to buy Bitcoin.
Dekabank, which currently holds $403 billion in assets under management, said the following in response to Bitcoin Magazine:
“Deka doesn’t offer any open-ended special AIFs that can invest in cryptocurrencies at the moment. Currently we are reviewing our options but to be clear, no decision has been made yet.”
Elsewhere in the report, Kamil Kaczmarski, a financial services adviser, noted that traditionally conservative German investors might experiment with Bitcoin at a “low level” at first, out of caution for the perceived short-term volatility of Bitcoin.
By his estimate it may be at least five years before most of the funds reach the 20% threshold.
Collectively, institutional investors that have access to Spezialfonds that can buy Bitcoin currently manage about $2.1 trillion.
Tim Kreutzmann, an expert on crypto assets at BVI, the competence center for the German funds industry, commented “Most funds will initially stay well below the 20% mark.”
Under the new law, multinational investment bank and financial services company Deutsche Bank AG could also begin to offer funds that buy Bitcoin, but they have not yet announced any plans to do so.
Image via Dekabank website