The full experience: the example of Montaigne Patrimoine

While most asset managers do not yet seem ready to offer investment in digital assets, some have been active in the field for years and are pushing the experiment very far. In France, Montaigne Patrimoine, based in Bordeaux, is one of the benchmarks.  "We offer our clients support in a strategy of holding and securing their digital assets," says Louis-Alexandre de Froissard, founder of the firm.

In practical terms, clients are trained by advisers to hold their assets themselves via individual storage solutions, such as those manufactured by Ledger, the French champion of cryptocurrency custody. This offering is probably the best on the market for the most complete experience as a user of digital assets. "We're betting that personal ownership of crypto-assets is a major issue," continues Louis-Alexandre de Froissard. "We're big believers in the principles of decentralisation and disintermediation," he insists.

‍A scheme to manage tax and inheritance

Montaigne Patrimoine earns a fee for the service, which it offers in the form of a subscription starting at €100 a month (with a share in capital gains when they exceed 30% a year). In terms of investment products, the firm focuses mainly on Bitcoin and Ethereum. "We advise a DCA (Dollar Cost Averaging) acquisition strategy, which involves investing at regular intervals to smooth out volatility," it says.

But it is also possible to implement revenue strategies via the creation of Ethereum validation nodes (the entities that validate transactions on the blockchain and receive rewards for this work). Always, of course, without ceding control of its funds to a third party. "We sometimes cause headaches for our technical service providers, but this is a non-negotiable prerequisite", warns Louis-Alexandre de Froissard.

Finally, the offering would not be complete if it did not take into account the issue of tax returns and inheritance with a well-honed system (technically and legally). The latter enables heirs to regain access to the portfolio after the death of the holder without the funds becoming inaccessible.

Montaigne Patrimoine has certainly shown the way for a demanding and wealthy niche, sparking the emergence of competitors also positioned to hold assets in their own right. This is the case with Alia Finance, which is taking the experiment even further by using only decentralised finance tools (Safe, Paraswap, etc.).

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