$20B Hedge Fund Launches Crypto Unit

The $20-billion United Kingdom-based hedge fund Brevan Howard is looking to "significantly expand" its involvement with cryptocurrencies.

What Happened: Brevan Howard CEO Aron Landy said the company has a "commitment to rapidly expanding its platform and offerings in cryptocurrencies and digital assets," according to a Monday Reuters report.

For this reason, the firm is launching its "BH Digital" division to manage its crypto and hired CMT Digital Chief Executive Colleen Sullivan to lead its investments in the space.

The report follows recent data revealing that institutions already held over $70 billion of Bitcoin BTC/USD at the time, equivalent to as much as 4% of the coin's total supply, or 1,476,568 BTC.

Howard previously invested in EOS EOS/USD developer Block.one and the ICE-owned digital assets platform Bakkt.

Earlier this summer, he also led a $25-million extension raise for London crypto financial services provider Copper.co and invested in Asian crypto exchange Kikitrade. Lastly, he also owns 25% of a U.S. hedge fund that owns $600 million of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETH/USD, One River Digital Asset Management.

BTC Price Action: Bitcoin is trading up 4.96% over 24 hours at $46,391.15.