What’s the Bitcoin Fund? It’s an investment fund in which every share costs one bitcoin … and Anatoliy Knyazev, managing partner at the Bitcoin Fund, and Tim Enneking, chairman of Altima Asset Management were on hand at Bitcoin 2013 on Sunday to walk attendees through how it all works.

Investing in Bitcoin Fund has many advantages, Knyazev asserted. First, he said, it’s easier to buy shares on the exchange than it is to buy bitcoins. Second, he added, the fund holds bitcoins in a highly secure manner, with sound cryptography and three storage locations on three separate continents … which takes the responsibility for security off of investors’ hands.

The fund has another advantage for companies or other legal entities that would like to invest in bitcoins, Enneking added.

If you put bitcoins in your balance sheet, he said, it’s hard to explain to auditors, regulatory agencies and investors. Instead, by putting their money into shares in a fund, investors in the Bitcoin Fund are able to make their bitcoin investment looks like any other investment.

The Bitcoin Fund also offers the advantage of a staff that will watch the market 24/7, Enneking said. Investors who want can request a call if, say, an emergency develops … such as a major exchange unexpectedly shutting down.

“If you buy bitcoin yourself — unless you’re addicted to Jolt Cola and can stay in front of your computer 24 hours a day, seven days a week — you’re going to miss something,” Enneking said.

For investors buying or selling large amounts of bitcoins, working through a fund has another advantage, Enneking said. The fund helps ensure that such investors can move in or out of the market without disrupting the market. For example, the fund can buy or sell bitcoins gradually, at a target price set by the customer.

Launched by the Malta-based EXANTE brokerage firm, the Bitcoin Fund will not take management fees from gains — that would mess up the plan to have each share always be worth one bitcoin. However, it does charge investors a 0.5 percent transaction fee.