Brevan Howard’s Crypto Unit Pivots Toward Institutional Application

The firm’s new head, former Coinbase executive Chris Rayner-Cook, argues that the crypto ecosystem has matured beyond a single-asset class dictated by broad market trends. He suggests that the sector has transitioned from an 'installation phase'—focused on foundational infrastructure—to an 'application phase,' where established firms like Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal integrate blockchain technology into their operations. Rayner-Cook expects the number of investable public equities tied to this shift to double over the next 18 months.

To capitalize on this dispersion, Brevan Howard has aggressively expanded its investment roster. Recent hires include Omar Kanji, formerly of Dragonfly, as head of growth investments, and Jason Li, previously of Millennium and Man Group, to manage public equity trading. While the flagship fund remains down 3.8% through September, the firm’s pivot to a stablecoin-focused strategy has yielded a 35% gain this year. These structural changes have already begun attracting interest from sovereign wealth funds seeking institutional-grade exposure to the blockchain space, a priority championed by billionaire founder Alan Howard.