Key Highlights:
- Bitfinex Securities is offering two tokenized funds co-founded by CMCC Global and Willy Woo: the dollar-benchmarked Crest Fund and the Bitcoin-benchmarked LBAF.
- Tokens are priced at $10 for CREST and 0.0001 BTC for LBAF, featuring a six-month promotional window with 50% reduced performance fees and waived redemption fees.
- Tokenization infrastructure is powered by Tether’s Hadron platform, with shares held in a Cayman Islands segregated portfolio structure via trustee BFXS (PTC) Limited.
Bitfinex Securities Expands Offerings with Two Quantitative Tokenized Funds
Digital asset platform Bitfinex Securities has introduced two distinct tokenized funds targeting different return benchmarks: the Crest Fund and the Liquid Bitcoin Alpha Fund (LBAF). Both investment vehicles were co-founded by blockchain venture capital firm CMCC Global alongside prominent Bitcoin analyst Willy Woo. Operating under CMCC Global SPC as segregated portfolios in the Cayman Islands, the funds cater to investors seeking systematic yields without taking direct directional market exposure.
The two vehicles utilize distinct performance hurdles aligned with investor preferences for fiat or cryptocurrency accumulation. Crest Fund, which began operating in March 2022, measures its performance in U.S. dollars and is structured to surpass U.S. Treasury bill yields. In contrast, LBAF launched in April 2025 and benchmarks its performance purely against Bitcoin, establishing a target of 8% to 12% net annualized returns, according to CMCC Global Managing Partner Martin Baumann.
Quantitative, Market-Neutral Investment Strategies
To achieve their objectives, both funds allocate investor capital across external quantitative managers utilizing varied systematic approaches. These tactics encompass funding-rate arbitrage, market making, and cross-venue arbitrage between centralized cryptocurrency exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
“Both funds use diversified portfolios of quantitative, market-neutral strategies rather than relying principally on the directional performance of digital-asset markets,”
Baumann said. CMCC Global highlighted that LBAF operates as a dedicated quantitative trading strategy specifically built to generate Bitcoin-denominated yield, ensuring that its benchmark focuses solely on expanding raw Bitcoin holdings rather than dollar values.
Token Issuance, Pricing, and Secondary Market Structure
The tokenized investment vehicles are issued with accessible minimum entry barriers. CREST tokens carry an issue price of $10 each, while LBAF tokens are priced at 0.0001 BTC per unit. Eligible investors can subscribe for as little as a single token, subject to standard customer identity verification and regulatory clearance.
Bitfinex Securities is also offering incentives for early market participants. Following listing, both funds feature a six-month promotional period during which performance fees are reduced by 50% and redemption fees are completely waived. Notably, these fee discounts remain attached to the tokens if they are sold to secondary market buyers for the remainder of the six-month term. Approved investors are permitted to hold the assets in qualified self-custody wallets and trade them continuously on a 24/7 basis through the Bitfinex Securities platform.
Underlying Technology and Legal Architecture via Hadron by Tether
The issuance and lifecycle mechanics of both tokens are powered by Hadron by Tether. Tether launched the Hadron platform in November 2024 to serve as an end-to-end management suite for asset tokenization, providing specialized tools for token creation, burning, asset lifecycle supervision, and regulatory compliance checks including anti-money laundering (AML) controls.
Under the legal and operational structure, BFXS (PTC) Limited serves as the independent trustee holding the underlying participating shares. Each CREST and LBAF digital token directly represents an economic interest in those physical fund shares. Tokens are minted against deposited shares and permanently destroyed upon investor redemption, with all transfers enforcing strict identity verification standards.
Why This Matters
The addition of the Crest and LBAF tokens marks another expansion of institutional-grade real-world assets (RWAs) and alternative investment funds on public ledger rails. Bitfinex Securities has expanded its portfolio to exceed $500 million in listed assets, which includes tokenized debt instruments, Bitcoin hashrate contracts, and U.S. Treasury bills. The launch also follows the platform’s completed $50 million capital raise for Alkemya Metacore, representing its largest fundraising event to date.
By blending market-neutral hedge fund strategies with blockchain tokenization, the initiative illustrates the continued institutional transition toward around-the-clock liquidity and fractionalized ownership of complex alternative asset classes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the entry prices and minimum investments for CREST and LBAF tokens?
CREST tokens have an issue price of $10 each, while LBAF tokens are priced at 0.0001 BTC each. Qualified investors who meet identity and regulatory criteria are able to subscribe starting at a single token.
How do the investment targets differ between Crest Fund and LBAF?
Crest Fund measures performance in U.S. dollars and aims to outperform U.S. Treasury bill yields. LBAF measures its performance entirely in Bitcoin, seeking an annualized net yield of 8% to 12% denominated in BTC through market-neutral quantitative trading.
What entity manages the underlying fund shares and technology?
The technical tokenization, issuance, and burning infrastructure is provided by Hadron by Tether. Legal title to the underlying participating shares within CMCC Global SPC is held by BFXS (PTC) Limited acting as the trustee.
