Virtual assets to be included in Australia's AUD 4.3 trillion pension fund

Australia's pension fund, totaling 4.3 trillion Australian dollars (about 4,000 trillion won), is expected to formally incorporate virtual assets (cryptocurrencies).

On the 1st (Korea time), Bloomberg reported that global crypto exchanges Coinbase and OKX recently announced plans to launch products aimed at directing Australia's pension funds into virtual assets.

The first target of the two crypto exchanges is Australia's Self-managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF). SMSFs account for 25% of the Australian pension market. Unlike traditional pensions, SMSFs allow individuals to freely allocate assets, so they can directly set up investments in virtual assets.

Coinbase said it will launch an SMSF service soon and that more than 500 people are already on the waiting list. OKX also launched a similar product in June and has seen higher-than-expected demand.

According to the Australian Taxation Office, SMSFs held about 1.7 billion Australian dollars (about 1.55 trillion won) in virtual assets as of March. It's not a large amount, but it's seven times higher than in 2021.

Fabian Busoletti, SMSF technology officer, said "It is natural that interest in virtual assets is rising first in the SMSF sector," and added, "Other funds will probably explore virtual asset investments in the future."