$157B Victory Capital plans to enter crypto market

The firm aims to let U.S. investors get exposure to crypto through a private fund tracking the Nasdaq Crypto Index.

Investment firm Victory Capital Management announced it would be taking steps for its United States-based investors to get exposure to the crypto market.

In a Wednesday announcement, Victory Capital said it would be the exclusive sponsor of “private placement funds and other vehicles” based on the Nasdaq Crypto Index, or NCI, an index developed by Nasdaq and Brazilian crypto asset manager Hashdex. The firm said it plans to launch a private fund for accredited investors tracking the NCI and private funds that will track the Nasdaq Bitcoin Reference Price Index and the Nasdaq Ethereum Price Index.

“Cryptocurrency is a viable asset class that can be part of a well-diversified portfolio,” said Mannik Dhillon, president of VictoryShares, Victory Capital’s ETF provider. “By investing in a portfolio designed to track the NCI, investors can seek returns that align with the cryptocurrency market in a diversified manner, gaining exposure to multiple digital assets as this market continues to evolve and mature.”

Hashdex partnered with Nasdaq in September 2020 to issue a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in Bermuda, with the Bermuda Stock Exchange approving the product in February. Its Nasdaq Crypto Index consists of eight cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Chainlink's LINK, Stellar's Lumen (XLM), Filecoin (FIL) and Uniswap's UNI.

As of April 30, Victory Capital has more than $157 billion in assets under management. In contrast, digital asset manager Grayscale reported on Wednesday that it has $30.9 billion assets under management for its crypto investments.