Quick take:
- OP Crypto is raising $100 million to invest in “fund of funds” managers.
- The venture capital firm said its new fund will focus on fund managers investing in blockchain infrastructure, DeFi, NFTs, the metaverse and gaming.
- OP Crypto is backed by mainstream investors like Bill Ackman and Alan Howard as well as Web3 companies like Animoca Brands and Galaxy Digital.
OP Crypto is raising $100 million to invest in “fund of funds” managers. The company said it will focus on fund managers that invest in blockchain infrastructure, DeFi, NFTs, the metaverse and gaming.
Op Crypto is backed by some of the leading mainstream hedge fund managers, including Bill Ackman and Alan Howard. The venture capital firm also boasts backing for top Web3 investment companies like Animoca Brands, Digital Currency Group and Galaxy Digital.
Commenting on his company’s latest fundraising, David Gan, founder and general partner at OP Crypto called the fund “an underlying diversifying vehicle” for investors looking to actively invest in crypto projects.
However, Gan also sees it as an exciting opportunity for those looking to increase their “deal flow across international borders and amongst people with niche vertical expertise.”
The company has already raised $50 million from crypto-focused LPs, including LedgerPrime and FJ Labs, moving halfway closer to achieving the targeted $100 million.
The fundraising also comes at a time when the crypto market downturn continues to drive cryptocurrency prices down.
The cryp[to crash has seen some high profile venture capital firms and hedge funds exposed financially with Three Arrows Capital, which defaulted on a $670 million loan and was asked to liquidate its assets.
On Thursday, FTX pulled out of a deal to acquire troubled crypto lending platform Celsius Network after discovering a flaw in their accounting.
Web3 startups have raised more than $7 billion over the last 45 days, including a16z’s $4.5 billion, Binance’s $500 million and Felix Capital’s $600 million among others. Yet even with the latest drawback that saw a crypto hedge fund default on a loan, exposing several other Web3 projects that it had backed — OP Crypto still managed to launch a $100 million fund.
But OP’s fund is unique in its own way. Gan calls it a safe haven vehicle for investors that are undecided on where to put their money.
“Ultimately we’re at a state where a lot of institutional investors don’t know where to park their money and this safe haven-like vehicle allows people to come in,” he said. “We’re only looking for emerging managers investing in venture[s] so it’s a longer-term horizon and they know that throughout a longer time span this is a really good sector to deploy heavily into venture[s] with more reasonable valuations.”
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