George Soros’ Hedge Fund Given Permission to Trade Bitcoin

Soros Fund Management, the family investment operation to billionaire investor George Soros, was given internal permission to actively trade bitcoin, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, according to The Street.

The approval was permitted by Dawn Fitzpatrick, chief investment officer at Soros Fund Management and it could potentially apply to other cryptocurrencies too, the sources said. 

Soros is a privately owned hedge fund that invests in public equity and fixed income markets and oversees more than $20 billion in assets under management. 

Fitzpatrick has been “doing more than just kicking the tires” in regards to crypto, one of the sources told The Street, adding that she has been exploring the space for a long time before ramping up investment operations in digital-assets.

David Tawil, president of ProChain Capital, told Blockworks that George Soros’ jump into crypto is particularly interesting “not only because he is well-known for his macro-investing achievements, but also because he has experienced success with single-name corporate investments. His breadth of investment is somewhat wider than Paul Tudor Jones, as an example.”

Tawil added, “People familiar with Soros’ background, in connection with his foray into cryptocurrency/crypto commodities, will immediately raise his episodes of betting against the British pound (breaking the Bank of England), and his high profile investments over time in gold and silver. So, we can’t assume that Soros will only be long in his investments in crypto.”

This isn’t the first time Soros has made headlines for bitcoin-related news. In March, Soros’ fund backed a $53 million Series D fundraise with the likes of S&P Global and CPA.com in investing in the digital asset data provider Lukka, Blockworks previously reported. 

At the same time in March, Fitzpatrick said on Bloomberg’s “Front Row” show that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are at an “inflection point,” and the firm has been making investments in firms providing crypto infrastructure, like exchanges, asset managers and custodians.

Lastly, in early March, Soros and Morgan Stanley joined others in a $200 million investment in NYDIG, a digital asset management firm. Just today, NYDIG announced partnerships with five major banking partners, Alkami, FIS, Fiserv, NCR and Q2, to bring bitcoin to the people, a NYDIG spokesperson told Blockworks.

Tawil noted that Soros’ commitment to digital assets is a plus for the asset class. “I think that it’s great any time legendary and respected investors/traders begin to recognize and commit capital to the asset-class. … His personal capital is vast and he has the ability to substantially influence others. In short, he is a welcomed member of the team.”