Hong Kong entrepreneur Adrian Cheng’s C Capital intends to raise $500 million to invest in blockchain assets, credit, and private equity over the next 18 months. Per a recent Bloomberg report,
“The firm is marketing a $200 million blockchain fund and plans to gather about $300 million to invest in private-equity and private credit strategies next year, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing fundraising details.”
Reportedly, the to-be-acquired funds will add to the approximate $1 billion that C Capital invested in private companies, digital assets and credits. Its hedge fund strategy primarily focuses on crypto trading.
Further elaborating on the approach adopted by the company, Ben Cheng—the firm’s Chief Executive Officer and President—said,
“When people are on defense, we’re on the offense.” He added, that this type of environment historically “will yield the best result. After another 6 to 9 months, it will come back.”
However, Cheng went on to reveal that C Capital turned down approaches from angel funds or firms at a seed stage because they “have high valuations and limited upsides.”
The executive said that the value of its existing crypto investments swelled by 40% in the first half—after doubling last year—despite the turbulent crypto price landscape.
Zooming out and viewing the crypto fundraising space
H1 2022 had been quite rough for the crypto space. Alongside asset price drops, a host of companies were seen battling with liquidity crunches. However, VCs continued pouring-in funds into the space. Per a recent KPMG report, investments into crypto firms in H1 of 2022, were more than double than any year before 2021. In over 725 deals that took place in the first half of the year, venture capital companies invested $14.2 billion into crypto.
In fact, the spirit continues to remain undeterred. So far in H2, a host of companies have raised capital via different means for different purposes. Towards the end of August, for instance, the venture capital firm led by one of Reddit’s co-founders intended to raise approximately $180 million for a crypto token fund.
By doing so, Seven Seven Six sought to take advantage of the current market scene. In fact, founding partner—Katelin Holloway—stated that this was the “best time” to invest if one was “long” on the industry.
Read More: Reddit co-founder to raise $180M for Crypto token fund
Furthermore, in another development, Mysten Labs raised $300 million at a $2 billion valuation in its latest funding round that took place at the beginning of this month. The crypto startup firm was, notably, founded by the former executives of Meta’s crypto unit.
Read More: Binance, Coinbase, Circle participate in $300M funding round
Funds being continually directed into the industry distinctly bring to light that VCs believe in the long-term future of the space, likely ensuring organic growth of the crypto-verse going forward.