With more people pouring their SMSFs into cryptocurrencies, advocates are concerned.

Under current regulations, self-managed super funds (SMSF) in Australia are able to invest in cryptocurrency assets such as bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin — if their normal obligations as a trustee are satisfied.

These new currencies operate within a largely unregulated environment and are not typically backed by a tangible asset.

The investment is considered legitimate if the fund's Trust Deed allows for, and recognises, the risks of crypto assets, and if they are purchased and stored in accordance with the relevant legislation, with no personal gain is garnered by the asset.

But industry leaders say that the highly speculative nature of cryptocurrency investment make it difficult to consider them consistent with a responsible super investment strategy.

Self-Managed Super Fund Association CEO John Maroney says trustees should tread carefully.

“All superannuation funds, including self-managed super funds, need to be for genuine retirement purposes,” he told the ABC.

“And that generally mitigates against investing in speculative assets that may disappear entirely.

“There's certainly the amount of volatility in the market. Quite a lot of the cryptocurrencies have gone down 40, 50 and 60 per cent in recent weeks and months — that is a clear indicator that it's volatile.

“And there may be nothing left for retirement, which would be of concern to the regulator.”

Mr Maroney says regulatory standards require SMSFs to hold a diversified portfolio.

“There's no specific regulation but the general regulation that governs all investment activities of the fund comes into play,” he said.

“It would be difficult to show that this is a good, genuine way of structuring your portfolio for retirement purposes. It would look far too speculative.”