Hostplus, Australia’s third-largest pension fund by member count, is reportedly considering offering cryptocurrencies as an investment option, citing interest from its members in the asset class.
“There’s certainly a demand from some of our members who write in and say, ‘Why can’t I have access to cryptocurrency?’” Sam Sicilia, the fund’s chief investment officer, told Bloomberg on Monday.
Investment offerings in crypto could be available as soon as next financial year, he said, with Bitcoin and other digital assets offered through its ChoicePlus investment option, which allows people to self-manage their retirement savings portfolio.
The plan is still in its design phase and would require regulatory approval, as well as resolution of a range of other issues, such as consumer protections before it could go live.
Hostplus is the third-largest retirement fund (known locally as a super fund) in Australia by member count and the fifth-largest by assets under management at over $96 billion ($139 billion Australian dollars), according to financial comparison site Canstar.
Australia’s total superannuation assets were estimated to be worth around $4.5 trillion Australian dollars by the end of the September 2025 quarter.
“We’d love to get regulatory tick-off, even if it means waiting another six months,” Sicilia told Bloomberg. “We are long-term investors. Six months doesn’t really move the dial for us.”
Super fund members asking for access to crypto
AMP was the first super fund to embrace crypto in May 2024, when it introduced exposure to Bitcoin via Bitcoin futures contracts as part of its investment strategy.
Sicilia told Bloomberg that crypto has evolved significantly since Hostplus first looked at the industry a decade ago.
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Self‑Managed Super Funds (SMSFs) are currently the main way Australians gain exposure to crypto for retirement savings. SMSFs are retirement funds set up and managed by individuals, rather than conventional funds managed by large institutions on behalf of members.
Australian crypto exchange BTC Markets reported in its Investor Study Report that SMSF registrations increased 69% year-on-year during the 2024–2025 financial year.
OKX Australia CEO Kate Cooper told Cointelegraph in February that a significant area of growth for the exchange has come from SMSF trustees, with a growing number of funds set up specifically so trustees can invest in digital assets, “because they currently can’t invest via the big super funds.”
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