Lately, cryptocurrency has been getting a lot of attention from important figures like Bill Gates, Dr Erik Schmidt and Warren Buffet. Now it seems that the highest sphere of society is starting to show its interest as well. This time it is the Crown Prince of Liechtenstein that has publicly with his ambition to invest in digital currency.
Liechtenstein is a small European country where the official language is German and the population is less than 40,000 inhabitants. The principality is considered a tax haven and owes much of its wealth from this traditional status.
The head of state of this principality is S.A.S Prince Hans-Adams II, however, the power lies with his son, the inheriting prince Alois, who exerts the administration of the state with the title of Prince Regent.
The royal house of Liechtenstein suffered great losses after the Second World War and had its fortune severely deteriorated. The family was even forced to sell part of its art collection to cope with the hard times. Today, the fortune of Prince Hans-Adams II amounts to $3.9 Billion, making him one of the richest nobles in Europe.
The Prince said that blockchain and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin could be the perfect investment to help his family restore its wealth. The prince believes that while cryptocurrency is still “very risky” its underlying technology could also be used to improve the principality management.
Crown Prince Alois told CNBC:
“With this whole new digital economy, it is something to look into more into in the future, “Blockchain will change a lot of things, it could even help make our state more efficient the way it is administered.”
Now, with the art collection largely recovered its and its finances better balanced the royal family is looking to invest in other asset classes, and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, even though considered to be a high risk asset class appeals to the Prince.
Alois admits he lacks the needed expertise to invest in cryptocurrencies but he is working on learning as much as possible to reduce the risk when investing. The prince admitted he might consider going for a legal fund related to digital currency such as an Investment Fund.
Last November, the first European investment fund designed to track the value of Bitcoin investments was launched in France by TOBAM Core Investments. This could well be an option for the prince. But for now, regulatory authorities (such as the US SEC) are still deciding on the numerous applicaticants of listed investment funds (ETFs) for cryptocurrencies, if accepted and ETF would provide a lower risk method for investors such as Prince Philip to gain exposure to this exciting new asset class.
