German Financial Group to Launch Crypto Index Funds for Institutional and Retail Investors

Iconiq Funds, the asset management arm of Germany-based Iconiq Holding - the team behind the ICO and token sale accelerator program Iconiq Lab - is launching a series of digital asset index funds beginning in Q4 2018, the company announced on Aug. 17, 2018.

Investment into crypto assets will become available through traditional and regulated financial vehicles, such as exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded notes.

An investment fund essentially hides the intricacies of crypto assets from its participant, offering participation in a selected group of tokens.

Iconiq Funds says the company will offer its financial products under the supervision of a governmental watchdog - such as MFSA for Malta.

Maximilian Lautenschläger, Iconiq Holding's managing partner, believes that such investment vehicles could help bring new capital to the crypto industry from the traditional financial markets.

"Iconiq's aim is to make ICOs and crypto investments accessible to institutional investors, family offices and retail investors. Only through such regulated vehicles can we open the doors for the trillions of capital from institutional markets to enter crypto." Lautenschläger said, according to the announcement.

Later, Iconiq Funds also plans to offer other financial products suited for traditional investors' demands, such as crypto index exchange-traded funds and notes in 2019.

The company says that Iconiq Funds is not merely a traditional asset management firm that started trading in crypto.

"ICNQ tokens can now be redeemed in our ecosystem for products and services provided by Iconiq Holding companies, including by our digital asset index funds to pay asset management fees to the fund manager, Iconiq Funds. We are excited to add this new value-driver to the ICNQ economy, with many more to come for the benefit of our community."

Iconiq says it plans to capitalize on opening the crypto marketplace to a completely different, and much more powerful class of investors, which may bring "a tectonic change" to the crypto market.