Iconiq Funds, the newly-launched asset management arm of Germany-based Iconiq Holding, has announced that it is launching a series of digital asset index funds beginning in Q4 2018. The passively-managed funds will track the top digital assets by market capitalization, allowing investors the opportunity to gain diversified exposure to the growth of the blockchain ecosystem through traditional financial vehicles, such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs).
Such low-fee investment products are common in the traditional asset management space. Iconiq Holding Managing Partner, Maximilian Lautenschläger, asserts such investment vehicles are necessary to bring new capital to crypto from the traditional financial markets. He said:
"Iconiq Holding's aim is to make ICOs [initial coin offerings] and crypto investments accessible to institutional investors, family offices and retail investors," said Max. "Only through such regulated vehicles can we open the doors for the trillions of capital from institutional markets to enter crypto."
The first digital asset index fund launched by Iconiq will be a Maltese Professional Investor Fund, more commonly known as a PIF. The fund is currently under review by the Maltese regulator, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), after which the company will launch the Crypto Index Exchange Traded Funds and Notes in 2019.
The ICNQ token, initially launched by Iconiq Lab, is also gaining new functionalities. The ICNQ token currently works as a blockchain-based Decentralized VC Club Membership instrument, allowing its holders' exclusive access to presales of companies graduating Iconiq Lab's token sale accelerator program. Now, it can also be used as a voucher instrument, similar to Binance's BNB token, for payments within the asset management ecosystem Iconiq has created.
Iconiq Holding will be selling up to 10 million remaining ICNQ tokens, with a public token sale taking place on the Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange Grid in October 2018. The ICNQ token will apply to be listed on the digital asset exchange, the GBX DAX, after the sale, with more exchanges to come.