Former Citibanker establishes $1.5 billion cryptocurrency fund with Algorand as first partner

The crypto economy continues to attract top Wall Street expertise. Matt Zhang is the latest industry veteran to leave the business.

A Wall Street veteran with over 14 years of experience has formed a new venture fund devoted to cryptocurrency and blockchain firms, demonstrating once again how sophisticated investors are shifting their focus to the developing world of digital assets.

Matt Zhang, a former Citi executive, announced the launch of Hivemind Capital Partners, a $1.5 billion multi-strategy fund aimed towards bootstrapping potential crypto investments and “institutionalising crypto investing” on Monday. The fund will prioritise initiatives aimed at developing crypto infrastructure, virtual worlds, and programmable money, and will also engage in digital asset trading as part of its overall strategy.

Hivemind’s initial technological partner is Algorand, a proof-of-stake protocol that is increasingly focused on enabling the global financial industry’s infrastructure. Algorand is a top-20 blockchain project, having a total market capitalization of $11.2 billion for its native ALGO currency.

Zhang referred to blockchain technology as a “paradigm shift” and said that his business would give infrastructure assistance to crypto entrepreneurs that is presently not accessible via conventional asset management approaches. However, the business has not yet announced any significant financing.

This year, venture funding has poured into the cryptocurrency business, with large firms investing billions of dollars in promising companies. Numerous fundraising rounds have resulted in the emergence of at least a dozen crypto unicorns, a phrase that refers to firms valued at $1 billion or more.

Zhang’s Hivemind is one of a few multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency funds. As Cointelegraph previously reported, Silicon Valley venture capital company Andreessen Horowitz announced a $2.2 billion cryptocurrency fund in June, the biggest to date. In November, crypto investment company Paradigm disclosed a $2.5 billion cryptocurrency portfolio.

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