The state of the cryptocurrency industry has seemingly deterred the most prominent Canadian pension fund, CPP Investments, from investment opportunities in the emerging digital asset market.

Largest Canadian Pension Fund Backtracks After One-Year Crypto Research

CPPI Investments reportedly manages about C$529 billion ($388 billion) in assets. Last year, the fund created a team of three people to research and explore potential investment opportunities in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. However, according to Reuters, this effort has now ended.

The unnamed sources disclose that CPP Investment has also redeployed the team to explore opportunities in other sectors. The reasons for the change were not communicated, but you don’t have to look beyond the present state of the cryptocurrency market, which has seen prices crash to record lows.

Did FTX and Crypto Firm Collapse Deter CPP Investments From Crypto?

Another factor could be the collapse of lending companies and the most recent demise of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, which affected one of the largest pension funds in Canada. Known as Ontario Teachers’, the firm invested a total of $95 million in both FTX.US and FTX International, which are bankrupt.

On November 18, Ontario Teachers wrote down its FTX investments, saying, “we are disappointed with the outcome of this investment, take all losses seriously, and will use this experience to further strengthen our approach.”

CPPI’s CEO Has Been Skeptical of Crypto

Besides the crypto market situation, the CEO of CPP Investments, John Graham, has been sceptical about digital currencies. During a speech in June, Graham questioned the intrinsic value that underpins some crypto assets, suggesting the firm will only consider investing in them with due diligence.

“You want to really think about what the underlying intrinsic value is of some of these assets and build your portfolio accordingly. […] So I’d say crypto is something we continue to look at and try to understand, but we just haven’t really invested in it,” Graham precisely said.

(By Ibiam Wayas)