Brevan Howard's BH Digital Asset Fund Faces Record Losses in 2025
Brevan Howard's BH Digital Asset fund experienced its worst performance since its inception, plunging 29.5% in 2025 due to a severe downturn in the crypto market and pressure on tech stocks from AI-driven disruptions. This decline followed impressive gains of 43% in 2023 and 52% in 2024.
At the beginning of 2025, Brevan Howard's digital assets unit managed $2.4 billion, primarily in this fund. The drop was exacerbated by significant losses across crypto markets and a 6% decrease in Bitcoin's value over the year, despite reaching an all-time high of just over $126,000 in October.
The fund's struggles mirrored a broader trend among crypto hedge funds, many of which faced double-digit drawdowns as risk appetite diminished and liquidity depth collapsed. A report by AIMA highlighted a growing paradox: while over 50% of traditional funds now have digital asset exposure, performance varied significantly. Venture-heavy strategies were particularly vulnerable to the year's systemic volatility.
Leadership changes also contributed to the turbulence at BH Digital Asset. CEO Gautam Sharma left in 2025 and was succeeded by Chris Rayner-Cook, former head of trading at Coinbase. Despite these challenges, the fund continued to invest in ventures like Superstate and TRM Labs.
