Superstate Launches New Crypto Carry Fund Targeting Bitcoin and Ethereum Arbitrage Opportunities

Superstate was founded by Robert Leshner, a former banker who is well regarded in the crypto world for building Compound, one of the first and most successful DeFi platforms.

Former banker Robert Leshner, who is best known in the crypto world for creating Compound, one of the first and most successful decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, is now at the helm of a new venture called Superstate.

In an interview with Fortune, Leshner explained a crypto carry trade, which involves buying a cryptocurrency at the spot price and simultaneously selling a futures contract on the same crypto at a later date. The difference between the two prices is known as the spread, and it can be positive or negative.

When the spread is positive, the trade is profitable. But the spread can also turn negative, especially in a bear market, which can lead to losses.

To carry out the trade, a token is created and used to track the spread. The token can then be traded in the market, allowing other traders to join the trade. But if the spread turns negative, the trade can be closed by selling the token.

According to Leshner, some sophisticated investors have been earning a yield premium on this arbitrage opportunity for years. But by creating a token to carry out the trade, he says, Superstate has made the process more accessible—and also more liquid since traders will be able to swap the tokens—known as USCC—with each other.

Superstate raised $14 million late last year, and launched its first fund in early 2024, offering tokenized versions of familiar products like Treasury Bills. The new Crypto Carry fund will primarily invest in both Bitcoin and Ethereum arbitrage opportunities but, during times when the spread does not offer a problem, will put investors’ money in T-bills and other safe investments instead.

Unlike hedge funds, there is no lock-in and returns will be available on a daily basis.

“We’re able to offer a better rate because we don’t have the same overhead costs as hedge funds,” said Jim Hiltner, who co-founded Superstate with Leshner.

According to Hiltner, the new Superstate fund will charge customers a fee of 75 basis points, while hedge funds typically charge a so-called two-and-twenty rate.

The fund is also structured so that it will not be vulnerable to margin calls, and will carry a cash buffer in any case.

“We’re not making any margin trades,” said Hiltner. “We’re fully cash secured at all times. We’re not taking on any leverage.”

The biggest catch for most investors is that the new fund is only open to so-called qualified purchasers who have $5 million in assets, while the lowest buy-in is for $100,000.

The Superstate founders say they hope that, in time, the assets will become more broadly accessible but that, for now, the new fund is groundbreaking because it is totally compliant with existing U.S. regulations.

In the bigger picture, SuperState is at the vanguard of a growing corner of the crypto industry that seeks to tokenize conventional assets.

While firms, including banks, have dabbled with the idea of “real world assets” on the blockchain for years, the idea appears to be finally gathering momentum as Wall Street comes to fully embrace crypto.

Indeed, giants of traditional finance are making a push, including Goldman Sachs, which says it will launch three tokenization projects by the end of the year.

“We’re seeing a lot of interest from institutions in tokenizing their assets,” said Leshner. “It’s a natural progression as crypto becomes more mainstream.”

Leshner notes that SuperState’s first fund has already amassed $100 million in assets, and that some big names from traditional finance will soon join a recently-launched industry council dedicated to tokenizing real world assets.

“We’re getting exactly the traction we wanted,” says Leshner. “More important than AUM is that intermediaries such as prime brokers are getting wired into crypto.”

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