Former Citi Banker Launches $ 1.5 Billion Crypto Fund, Takes Algorand As First Partner

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A Wall Street veteran with over 14 years of experience has launched a new venture capital fund dedicated to cryptocurrency and blockchain startups, offering further proof that smart investors are pivoting to the emerging world of digital assets.

On Monday, former Citi executive Matt Zhang introduced Hivemind Capital Partners, a $ 1.5 billion multi-strategy fund designed to launch promising crypto games and “institutionalize crypto investing.” The fund will prioritize projects focused on building crypto infrastructure, virtual worlds and programmable money, and will also trade digital assets as part of its underlying strategy.

Hivemind’s premier technology partner is Algorand, a proof-of-stake protocol that increasingly focuses on building infrastructure for the global financial industry. Algorand is one of the top 20 blockchain projects, with its native ALGO token valued at $ 11.2 billion in total market cap, according to Coingecko.

Zhang described blockchain technology as a “paradigm shift” and said his company would provide crypto entrepreneurs with infrastructure support that is currently not available in traditional asset management models. However, the company has yet to announce any major funding.

Venture capital has flooded the cryptocurrency industry this year, with major funds allocating billions of dollars to promising startups. Successive rounds of funding have spawned at least a dozen crypto unicorns, a term used to describe startups valued at $ 1 billion or more.

Zhang’s Hivemind is one of a small handful of multi-billion dollar crypto funds. As Cointelegraph reported, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Andreessen Horowitz launched a $ 2.2 billion crypto fund in June, the largest ever created at the time. In November, crypto investment firm Paradigm unveiled a $ 2.5 billion portfolio dedicated to crypto companies.

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