Statistics Show A Decline In Cryptocurrency Hedge Funds For May 2018
Three different industry trackers have provided data revealing that crypto hedge funds had achieved quite a negative growth in the bear market of May 2018.
According to the Eurekahedge Crypto-Currency Hedge Fund Index, crypto funds losses are estimated to about 11.66% during May and 201’s year to date (YTD) performance to be -22.71%. Hedge Fund Research Inc. (HFR), a market analysis firm, estimated crypto funds to have suffered a fall of 15.48% during May, that brings the YTD performance to -33.3% per the company’s HFR Blockchain Index. The Cryptocurrency Traders Index of hedge fund data specialist Barclay Hedge shows that the performance of those it has been tracking went down by 19.09% in May, and down 34.57% YTD. The differences between the three benchmarks can be explained by the fact that they are all following a different number of funds.
Eurekahedge reported an increase of 52.83% and Barclay Hedge a similar 44.86% in April 2018; the May figures are in sharp contrast to the figures observed the previous month.
Analysts, despite the blow in May and high volatility from month to months, remain optimistic about the whole thing. One of the reasons for their optimism is the recent SEC statement and new institutional money coming in.
Cryptocurrency lead for Asia at PwC, Henri Arslanian, said: “I expect the crypto markets to remain volatile for the foreseeable future.” “Whilst retail investors may see volatility in the crypto markets as a downside, many crypto funds see it as an opportunity.” He added that the “long-term positive impact of the number of institutional players entering” is more important than short-term price changes.
Josh Gu, director of quantitative research at the HFR index division says that interest among Asian investors is surging. “Cryptocurrencies have been very volatile, the topic is still hot in China and Japan.” He explained to the FT that cryptocurrencies appealed to individual investors with a large risk appetite. “However, the [Chinese] regulator has banned some of the crypto trading platforms because of risk, so some investors might have panicked.”
