Brevan Howard Asset Management’s cryptocurrency fund, BH Digital, which manages around $1.7bn in assets, returned 34.5% in the first three months of the year, bringing total gains since it debuted in March 2022 to nearly 51%, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The fund's performance is a bright spot for the $35bn hedge fund firm, which has lost money on its macro trades this year.

BH Digital's gains have been driven by a surge in cryptocurrency values with bitcoin up around 50% since the end of March 2022 and the end of Q1 2024. The fund, which invests in liquid cryptocurrencies as well as relative-value and venture capital opportunities in the asset class, gained 44% last year having lost money in 2022.

Brevan Howard's macro trades have fared less well in 2024, and while the firm pared losses last month on wrong-way interest rate bets incurred at the beginning of the year, its flagship $12bn Master Fund remains down around 2% year to date, compared with a 6% gain in the Bloomberg Macro Hedge Fund Index.