The cryptocurrency business has skilled pivotal development. Over the previous couple of years, a number of cryptocurrency funding companies and hedge funds have been the most important gamers supporting this development. In-house authorized groups of those funding companies play a vital position and assist navigate the advanced and quickly evolving authorized frameworks surrounding digital belongings.
Digital Foreign money Group
Based in 2015, the Digital Foreign money Group is a New York-based enterprise capital agency that primarily invests in blockchain and cryptocurrency startups. As of September 2021, it had roughly $50 billion in belongings beneath administration. It has made investments in firms similar to Circle and Determine Applied sciences. In 2016, the Digital Foreign money Group acquired CoinDesk, a information web site that focuses on digital currencies.
Director of Authorized Mike Katz serves as Digital Foreign money Group’s high in-house lawyer. He gives operational and strategic recommendation on the authorized points of transactions and understanding the distinctive authorized challenges dealing with the business. A graduate of Columbia Regulation Faculty, Katz was beforehand a startup and enterprise capital lawyer at Cooley LLP. Earlier than that, he was an lawyer on the New York regulation agency Paul Weiss.
Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z Cryptocurrency Fund
Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z is likely one of the most prolific cryptocurrency traders. The Silicon Valley enterprise capital powerhouse raised a $2.2 billion cryptocurrency enterprise fund in June 2021. In the beginning of 2022, the agency introduced its ambitions to boost $4.5 billion for its subsequent cryptocurrency fund.
This investing prowess has partly been as a result of sturdy crew behind a16z. Katie Haun and Chris Dixon co-launched Andreessen’s cryptocurrency funds in 2018. The pair have helped the agency elevate and deploy a number of cryptocurrency-focused funds. A former federal prosecutor, Katie Haun was Andreessen’s first feminine common companion. In January 2022, Katie Haun introduced she’s going to depart a16z to start out her personal fund. Her aim is to construct a $1 billion cryptocurrency fund, which might be the most important web3 fund raised by a solely woman-led enterprise capital.
Common counsel Miles Jennings heads the authorized crew. Jennings was a current rent from worldwide regulation agency Latham & Watkins, the place he was a companion.
Paradigm Capital
Paradigm Capital is a multi-stage cryptocurrency enterprise capital agency that always invests in early-stage startups, then helps their development by offering extra capital over time. In November 2021, Paradigm debuted a $2.5 billion cryptocurrency fund. Paradigm’s monumental cryptocurrency fund surpassed the earlier $2.2 billion document set by a16z in July 2021.
A few of Paradigm’s high-profile portfolio investments embody Coinbase, FTX, BlockFi, Maker, and Uniswap. Paradigm additionally invested in a number of NFT platforms. For instance, the agency lately helped Parallel, an NFT sci-fi card sport, attain a $500 million valuation in its newest funding spherical.
Paradigm Capital’s in-house authorized crew is led by two affiliate common counsels, Josh Ephraim and Rodrigo Seira. Each beforehand labored at startup and enterprise capital-focused worldwide regulation companies.
Pantera Capital
Based in 2013, Pantera Capital is a hedge fund that has constructed a worldwide portfolio of cryptocurrency and blockchain investments. Whereas the hedge fund was initially based in 2003, Pantera Capital first launched an funding fund dedicated to bitcoin in 2013. Since then, the hedge fund has pivoted solely to blockchain applied sciences funding. Pantera Capital is predicated in Menlo Park, California.
Joseph Cisewski, the final counsel of Pantera Capital, has labored in each the private and non-private sectors. He held senior roles on the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC) and Securities and Trade Fee (SEC). Cisewski is excited about how blockchain applied sciences can deal with dangers and flaws within the fairness and derivatives markets.
Coinbase Ventures: VC Arm of Cryptocurrency Agency
Coinbase Ventures was created in 2018 because the enterprise capital arm of the cryptocurrency change Coinbase. In 2021, Coinbase Ventures made round 150 offers. The agency has made roughly 250 offers thus far, many within the decentralized finance sector. Investments in web3 infrastructure and protocols additionally made up a good portion of Coinbase Ventures’ portfolio.
Certainly one of largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the USA, Coinbase is aggressively rising its authorized crew. Coinbase employed Paul Grewal as its Chief Authorized Officer in July 2021. Grewal beforehand served as deputy common counsel of Fb. Earlier in his profession, Grewal had been a federal Justice of the Peace decide, tackling main tech instances.
Multicoin Capital
Multicoin Capital is an Austin, Texas primarily based cryptocurrency funding agency that invests in blockchain startups. In Might 2021, it debuted a $100 million fund to again firms tackling decentralized finance, Web3 infrastructure, and digital collectibles. Kyle Samani, a former engineer who beforehand based a well being IT startup, based the agency .
Multicoin Capital opened its doorways in 2017. The agency has maintained a small crew of round 30 workers. Gregory Xethalis is common counsel and chief compliance officer. Xethalis was beforehand a regulation agency companion.