Point72 Asset Management in Early Innings by Big Crypto Push

Point72 Asset Management in Early Innings by Big Crypto Push

According to two sources familiar with the matter, the staffing of the burgeoning cryptocurrency transactions of Point72 Asset Management gradually takes shape, since the multi-strategy hedge fund company deepens its advance into digital assets.

The company, which is managed by founder Steve Cohen and acts with a variety of traditional financial investments, including stocks, raw materials and guilt titles, is looking for a few high -ranking experts with a focus on blockchain, including a head of crypto technology, the company would report Mark Brubaker, Chief Technology Officer from the company.

sources, Brubaker has conducted interviews with potential candidates in the past few weeks, with some ideas about an external recruitment company that focused on crypto.

The second role would be more of a Head of Digital Asset Operations, which would include coordinating the efforts between Middle and Back-Office teams, supporting portfolio managers and analysts. Further settings in the junior and mid-level area are in progress.

The plan for the crypto shops of Point72-which should build up in the space over its family office and the venture arm of the company relatively early on Cohens-is to start with quantitative trades and build a business model from there.

"There are high -ranking, serious people [at point72] who are now getting in in crypto," said one source. "They finally take it seriously. It is early, but that looks like the early innings of a big push. And it is finally clear that Steve [Cohen] signed it."

prominent hedge funds have largely remained on the crypto side line. Top financiers were concerned about regulation in front of the latest market crash; You are now also concerned about whether digital assets will continue to be free in a difficult time to enter quickly fluctuating markets.

There is also the not insignificant matter of considerable institutional limited partners, in particular conservatively oriented state funds who invest in front of the company and others, in which they are in good hands, to urge themselves to be too fast in crypto - especially if it is unclear whether digital assets are high enough to justify the large tickets, the Point72 and its competitors, to generate sensible alpha from these trades.

The company used the Jump-Trading veteran Elie Galam as Head of Crypto for the Quant Department Cubist Systematic Strategies last month. . Galam and at least two supporting portfolio managers were commissioned to carefully check the trade with fairly liquid Kassa cryptocurrencies with high market capitalization and associated derivatives.