Superstate launches a crypto fund for all seasons
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Robert Leshner's Superstate, a crypto-native asset manager specialized in tokenized funds, is out with its second product, this time a market-neutral strategy that aims to deliver regardless of whether numbers go up, or down.
Why it matters: The Superstate Crypto Carry Fund (USCC) aims to deliver a higher yield than short-term U.S. treasuries offer right now.
The big picture: Leshner tells Axios that there's more demand for this type of strategy than for treasuries, with folks searching for higher yields. (Indeed it's hard to ignore that Ethena — which has a built in carry trade — has suddenly risen, powering an algorithmic stablecoin with a market cap over $3 billion.
- "Part of this is, we're going to find out," Leshner said of the potential market for his fund, adding that the cash-and-carry strategy within crypto is a "battle-tested" play and among the more well understood investment propositions in the space.
- Superstate launched a money market fund earlier this year.
How it works: The cash-and-carry trade in traditional finance is when an investor buys a security or commodity and simultaneously sells a futures contract on the same asset for a higher price. It makes a profit on the difference after delivery.
- USCC will do that with bitcoin and ether.
- Leshner says it's possible now to lock in an annualized 12% yield, based on bitcoin and bitcoin futures prices.
Behind the scenes: The fund has discretion as to which futures the fund will sell, and could, rotate out of either digital asset if the other presents a more attractive gap to arbitrage, he added.
