Coinbase to Launch New Institutional Bitcoin Fund
The United States’ biggest crypto exchange, Coinbase, intends to launch a new institutional fund. The new fund, dubbed the Coinbase Bitcoin Yield Fund (CBYF), targets to offer an annual net return of 4% to 8% on Bitcoin holdings.
Coinbase Expanding Bitcoin Value Proposition
As revealed in a blog post, the CBYF, scheduled to debut on May 1, aims to offer Bitcoin exposure to institutional investors outside the US and expand Bitcoin’s value proposition beyond holding the asset. Aspen Digital, a digital asset manager based in Abu Dhabi, is among the multiple investors backing the fund, which the Financial Services Regulatory Authority also regulates.
Bitcoin, unlike Solana (SOL) and Ethereum (ETH), which offer native staking rewards, lacks built-in yield mechanisms. Therefore, the fund aims to bridge this gap by generating yield through a cash-and-carry strategy. This strategy profits from getting the difference between spot Bitcoin prices and derivatives.
Another key feature of the fund is that it seeks to lower the investment and operational risks typically associated with Bitcoin yield products. Coinbase believes this approach will better align with the risk appetite of institutional investors.
Furthermore, the fund will avoid riskier strategies like high-interest Bitcoin loans and systematic call selling. At the same time, it will leverage third-party custodians to mitigate counterparty risk. CBYF targets annual net returns of 4% to 8%, paid in Bitcoin.
Coinbase plans to bring the new product to the private wealth market in the future. It is one of the most trusted counterparties in the asset class. With a huge investor demand for Bitcoin yield, the CBYF is expected to attract new customers to Coinbase.
Recovery in the Spot Bitcoin Market
Meanwhile, Coinbase pointed out that the growing institutional crypto adoption inspires the CBYF launch. Interestingly, this is the likely reason behind Bitcoin’s price recovery over the past few weeks.
As indicated in our earlier discussion, investors saw an opportunity and poured $220 million into Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) on April 2. At the time of this inflow, Bitcoin traded at $83,000. However, the Bitcoin ETFs soon experienced a decline in market activity, with net monthly outflows reaching $149 million on April 10.
With a renewed investor sentiment over the past week, the Bitcoin ETF market recorded days of consistent inflows. According to the latest data from Farside Investors, the spot Bitcoin ETFs saw inflows reaching $380 million on April 25. BlackRock’s IBIT saw the highest inflows of $240 million, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with $108 million.
The positive sentiments in the spot Bitcoin ETF market follow BTC recovery to the $94,000 mark. While retail interest remains low, some analysts anticipate a surge if Bitcoin breaks $100,000. Investors are advised to monitor the $94,000 to $95,000 resistance for potential retail re-engagement.
Regarding price expectations, crypto analyst Lingrid asserts that Bitcoin has successfully broken out of a large triangle pattern with substantial volume. As we discussed in our post, the analyst claims a potential BTC run toward $115,000 to $125,000 is possible.