Swiss Firm Base58 Capital to Launch Crypto Fund Out of Malta

The Maltese Financial Services Authority (MFSA) granted Base 58 their in-principle approval under the new supplementary conditions applicable to collective investment schemes that came into effect on January 29th, 2018. After initially contacting the Maltese regulator and contributing to the request for feedback during Q4 2017, the Swiss start-up was the first company to submit an application to the MFSA under its Professional Investor Fund (PIF) regime. According to a Base58 blog post “the approval marks a historic milestone in our history and the history of Malta as a domicile for cryptoasset funds.”

Actively Managing the Whole Universe of Cryptoassets

The fund will be actively managed with a long bias and will invest globally from early-stage projects to more mature protocols like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Fabio Federici, Founder and CEO of Base58, said: “Our investment thesis is grounded in the fundamental innovation underpinning cryptoassets: decentralized trust.” Primary clients are qualified and institutional investors, such as family offices and funds of funds.

While crypto markets have been cooling off after the frenzy of 2017, Base58 concentrates on the actual progress and activity in the various projects — factors which we believe determine the long-term success of protocols and applications.

Base58 is one of Switzerland’s first regulated cryptoasset investment management companies. The company was founded by Fabio Federici, who in 2014 co-founded Coinalytics (later Skry), a blockchain analytics company in Palo Alto. The team includes software engineers and asset managers with a strong track record in Emerging Markets and Alternative Investments

What’s on the horizon for Base58? “Getting the fund off the ground is our primary focus over the coming months,” says Fabio Federici. “Because of its flexibility, Malta is the ideal jurisdiction for the fund. At the same time, our asset management company is domiciled in Switzerland. With its start as Crypto Valley and the long-lasting tradition of asset management, Switzerland has an amazing opportunity to become the major hub for talent in this space. Our goal is to build a global ecosystem where we can share ideas and contribute to the advancement of decentralized technologies.”

(Press release)