Verde Asset Management, the Brazilian hedge fund managed by Luis Stuhlberger, made a strategic bet on bitcoin prior to the 5 November US election, capitalising on the cryptocurrency’s rally sparked by President-elect Donald Trump’s return to office, according to a report by Bloomberg.
It reports the firm’s Monday client update as revealing that it initiated a small bitcoin position before the vote and also expanded its short position on the Chinese yuan. Specific details on the size of the positions were not disclosed.
Bitcoin surged past $87,000 on Monday, fuelled by investor enthusiasm following Trump’s pro-crypto stance during his campaign and a favourable outlook for digital assets in a crypto-supportive Congress. Since last week’s election, bitcoin has jumped over 25%, while the yuan has dropped nearly 2%.
In Brazil, Verde, one of the country’s best-known hedge funds, with approximately BRL19bn ($3.3bn) in assets, offered a cautious outlook, citing the government’s “consistent overpromising” on fiscal reforms. The fund expects inflationary pressures to prompt faster interest rate hikes by policymakers.
The fund currently holds a neutral position on Brazilian equities, has reduced its stake in oil, and maintains bullish positions on the Indian rupee while being bearish on the euro.
Verde’s flagship fund dipped 0.18% after fees in October, lagging t he CDI interbank benchmark rate’s 0.93% gain and a 0.29% rise for a local hedge fund index. However, the fund is ahead of the Anbima Hedge Fund Index by over two percentage points year to date.
