Swiss digital asset bank Sygnum Bank and Starboard Digital have raised over 750 bitcoin BTC$87,904.34, worth more than $65 million at current prices, for its BTC investment vehicle.

The BTC Alpha Fund, offered by Sygnum in partnership with Starboard, is designed to generate yield on its bitcoin holdings without relying on price increases.

The Cayman Islands-domiciled fund delivered an 8.9% annualized net return in its first full quarter following its debut in October last year. It targets 8-10% annual BTC-denominated returns by capturing price differences between spot and derivative markets.

The fund avoids uses systematic arbitrage strategies, meaning it takes advantage of glitches in the prices of assets on different exchanges to try and produce steady returns irrespective of market conditions.

The strong early inflows point to rising demand among institutional investors for bitcoin strategies that generate income while maintaining long-term exposure, according to Markus Hämmerli, Sygum's head of portfolio management.

The fund is open to professional investors in jurisdictions including Switzerland and Singapore.

Shares in the fund are also eligible as collateral for Lombard loans through Sygnum, enabling investors to unlock liquidity without selling their bitcoin positions.

Sygnum earlier this year teamed up with bitcoin lending startup Debifi to launch what the companies said was the first bank-backed loan platform that didn’t require borrowers to give up control of their BTC.