Page 24 - BNE_magazine_04_2019

24 I Companies & Markets bne April 2019
body. The concerned governments are expected to agree their technical strategy for this common payment system and test it in the near future, according to Russian participants.
The RDIF press service confirmed that “the fund and its portfolio companies are taking an active part in the BRICS Pay project,” with the support of RDIF partners from China and India, which are bringing their expertise and technologies. The fund is “ready to participate” in the financing of the initiative.
Central bank and Ministry of Finance not involved However, such key Russian financial institutions as the central bank, the National Payment Cards System (NSPK) and the Ministry of Finance do not seem to be involved or even aware yet of the project, as shown by their exchanges with Izvestia.
ITI Funds launch a new cryptocurrency tracking ETF fund
In a separate process, the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia – are considering creating jointly
a digital currency in 2020 or 2021, as reported by East-West Digital News a few months ago.
The national payment systems of these countries are in the process of getting more integrated. Thus, Belarus’s Belkart and Russia’s MIR have just inked an agreement to let cardholders use these cards in either country indifferently. Designed as an alternative to Visa or Mastercard, MIR cards are also expected to be accepted in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Izvestia reported.
ITI Funds has launched the ITI Funds Crypto Index Fund (IFCIF), the world’s first index fund that tracks a basket of crypto-assets. Above: Marat Krimskiy, Operations Manager at ITI Funds.
The fund is based on ITI Funds fund platform in Luxembourg that have dramatically dropped the barriers to entry for would-be fund managers, as described by ITI Funds CEO Gelb Yakovlev in a recent interview with bne IntelliNews. Luxem- bourg is home to the world’s second-largest volume of fund assets under management, worth $4bn.
The ITI Funds Crypto Index Fund tracks an index called ITI Funds Crypto Index which is made up from a basket of
“The idea of an index tracking-style fund in the world of cryptocurrency is still unusual”
the 30-biggest cryptocurrencies with the largest market capitalizations including: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin
Ben Aris in Berlin
ITI Funds, the multi-product financial asset management platform, has launched the ITI Funds Crypto Index
Fund (ticker: ITIFC), the world’s first index fund with professional custody and insurance. The fund tracks a basket of top crypto-assets but using a traditional index-tracking style set up, the company said in a press release on March 7.
The fund is domiciled in Luxembourg and offers professional investors an easy-to-access platform to tap into the new and rapidly growing asset class via the conventional purchases of fund units. ITI Funds believes the main advantage is a legal compliant transparent infrastructure.
“This jurisdiction has been chosen due to its well-established legal regulation, asset-custodianship and investor convenience. The fund’s structure facilitates total transparency and legal compliance, and its operation is supported by leading service providers in Luxembourg as well as widely known US market professionals,” says Marat Krimskiy, the manager of the project.
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