Australian Pension Fund Weighs Crypto Access Amid Market Volatility

Crypto is inching closer to Australia’s retirement system, with one of the country’s largest super funds now actively exploring how to offer it to members.

Australian industry superannuation fund Hostplus is exploring whether to open a path into Bitcoin and other digital assets for its members, according to a Bloomberg report.

This move would put the $105 billion (A$150 billion) retirement giant among a small group of global pension funds willing to take on crypto exposure.

“As soon as one super fund breaks ranks on crypto assets, I’d say there’s a high probability the rest follow,” Jason Titman, CEO of Australian crypto exchange Swyftx, told Decrypt. “Around a quarter of Australians want their super funds to offer digital assets, and that number is likely to increase when the market is regulated.”

The fund’s CIO, Sam Sicilia, told Bloomberg the plan is focused on Choiceplus, a self-directed window that lets members manage a slice of their own retirement savings, currently about 1% of the fund’s total book. 

“There’s certainly a demand from some of our members who write in and say, ‘Why can’t I have access to cryptocurrency?’” he said.

A launch could come as early as next financial year, pending regulatory approval and internal product design work, Sicilia said. 

Hostplus, which serves nearly two million members with an average age in the mid-to-late 30s, is still reviewing consumer protections and product design.

Sicilia said the fund’s view of crypto has evolved considerably since an earlier assessment roughly a decade ago, and that the current review covers not just Bitcoin but a broader universe of digital assets, including potential tokenized exposure to areas such as music rights.

Kraken Australia managing director Jonathon Miller told Decrypt the move, if implemented, is a “positive step forward for the sector.” 

“We have come a long way in the last decade, and for many Australians, digital assets are increasingly viewed as a legitimate long-term investment; however, access to them, outside of SMSFs, has remained limited,” he said. 

“Expanding availability through platforms like Choiceplus gives investors more flexibility in how they build and diversify their portfolios,” Miller said, adding that “more choice” and “easier access” would benefit “both consumers and the broader market”.

Still, volatility remains a key barrier as AMP Super, one of the few funds to experiment with crypto, recently cut its Bitcoin futures exposure to around 0.02% after a sharp downturn wiped out roughly $700 billion from the market earlier this year. 

“We’ve had essentially no exposure during most of the recent sell-off,” AMP Super head of portfolio design Stuart Eliot told Investment Magazine last month.

The position dates back to May 2024, when AMP Super added Bitcoin futures via its dynamic allocation strategy.

On Myriad, a prediction market owned by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan, market sentiment leans toward upside, with users seeing a 50.7% likelihood of Bitcoin reaching $84,000 rather than falling to $55,000.

The world’s largest crypto currently sits at $70,599, up 3.6% on the day, according to CoinGecko data.