Two veteran investors from BlackRock have left the world's largest asset manager to launch a cryptocurrency hedge fund, joining a growing roster of executives to quit mainstream financial services for the fledgling sector.

The move, which comes as six of the world's largest asset managers told Financial News that they had no plans to invest in bitcoin, will see the two senior fixed income specialists at the US powerhouse team up with an Oxford Maths PhD in the hope of amassing £10m of assets under management.