Global Advisors Names itBit, Gemini Trust as Custodians for Bitcoin Fund

Digital currency hedge fund Global Advisors has named Gemini Trust Company and itBit as custodians for its flagship Global Advisors Bitcoin Investment Fund ahead of a possible listing on the Channel Islands Securities Exchange by the end of this year.

The two custodians are both U.S.-domiciled companies registered in New York as regulated bitcoin custodians and subject to some of the most comprehensive regulations in the digital currency world, including capitalization requirements, AMY/KYC compliance, security protocols and reserve ratios. Gemini is owned by the Winklevoss twins of Facebook fame, who are also trying to be first-to-market with a bitcoin-backed ETF.

The new relationships will provide for cold storage of Global Advisors’ bitcoin holdings while adding redundancy and lowering the risk of the custodian and storage process. The fund will also be able to trade in cross-market arbitrate across bitcoin exchanges, lend bitcoins to the market and utilize leverage, according to the company. The new relationships will also allow the fund to trade non-bitcoin commodity futures for a small portion of its portfolio as a supplement to the strategy and for hedging purposes. 

Jersey-based Global Advisors was co-founded by CIO Daniel Masters. The company and its predecessors have provided professional asset management in commodities since 1999, and now concentrates on bitcoin investment products and blockchain technology companies. 

The company's composite bitcoin trading portfolio has returned more than 35% so far in 2016 following a gain of 37% last year, according to its website.