Crypto-focused venture firm Dragonfly acquires hedge fund: Bloomberg

Amid the grueling bear market for Bitcoin, Ether and altcoins, the cryptocurrency industry is undergoing consolidation.

Cryptocurrency venture firm Dragonfly has acquired a digital asset-focused investment fund for an undisclosed amount — a move that managing partner Haseeb Qureshi said mirrors the broad consolidation trend underway in the industry. 

Bloomberg reported Monday that Dragonfly purchased MetaStable Capital, a hedge fund co-founded by Naval Ravkiant in 2014, for an undisclosed sum. In doing so, Dragonfly dropped the word “Capital” from its name and underwent a complete rebranding to reflect its growing mandate in the digital asset space.

Qureshi told Bloomberg that his firm is “committing to our crypto-native roots” at a time when traditional funds are exiting digital assets entirely due to the bear market. Despite the downtrend, Dragonfly has deepened its exposure to the crypto sector through a series of private investment rounds. In April of this year, Dragonfly closed a $650 million venture round to expand its crypto-focused portfolio. As Cointelegraph reported at the time, the raise saw participation from firms like Tiger Global, Sequoia China, Invesco and KKR.

Related: LidoDAO says no to selling $14.5M in LDO tokens to Dragonfly Capital

Prior to being acquired, MetaStable described its strategy as “long-term value investing” in the cryptocurrency sector. As of July 31, the company had over $400 million in assets under management.

See the biggest deals and more VC data from Q1, courtesy of @CointelegraphCS.

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While the pace of crypto venture financing has slowed in recent months, 2022 has already been a record year for capital raises. According to Cointelegraph Research, crypto startups raised $14.67 billion in the second quarter, nearly identical to the $14.66 billion raised in the first three months of the year.

In recent months, startups at the intersection of Bitcoin (BTC) payments, decentralized finance and blockchain security have garnered interest from venture capitalists. Web3, metaverse and blockchain gaming projects have also seen a broad uptake from VC firms.