Metalpha raising US$100 million fund to woo Chinese Bitcoin buyers
METALPHA Technology Holding is targeting a US$100 million fund to invest in Bitcoin and other crypto products from Grayscale Investments, offering Chinese investors with an appetite for crypto a regulated channel to get involved.
The licenced digital asset wealth manager, formerly known as Dragon Victory International, has secured US$20 million for its new fund since March, said Adrian Wang, Metalpha’s president.
Based in Hong Kong, the firm had been mulling relocation but decided to stay put after the city laid out plans to become a crypto trading hub. Its new fund was launched with NextGen Digital Venture, headed by Jason Huang, formerly of Alibaba Group Holding co-founder Joe Tsai’s family office Blue Pool Capital.
The key selling point for the fund is providing a legally compliant way for investors in Asia from traditional finance backgrounds to access the so-called Web3 space, or a decentralised version of the Internet built around blockchain technology.
“A lot of our clients are family offices with traditional backgrounds, rather than pure crypto or pure Web3 native investors,” said Wang, who declined to share specific investor names. “It’s overseas Chinese institutions — some of them are family offices, some of them are public companies.”
The abrupt collapse of FTX last year reverberated across the crypto industry, shrinking risk appetites among investors from all classes. Metalpha sees that shock dissipating in recent times and believes its regulator-compliant offering will benefit from interest returning.
“In the last quarter of 2022, especially after FTX collapsed, we had some difficulties and a lot of clients hesitated to place new orders, but now it’s getting much better,” Wang said. “A lot of new traffic is coming in and people are gaining more confidence.”
Metalpha is backed by Singapore-based financier Antalpha, which has been working with Chinese Bitcoin mining rig firm Bitmain Technologies to offer low-interest loans to crypto miners. The company competes with other lenders including Chinese billionaire Jihan Wu’s Matrixport Technologies and the embattled Amber Group. BLOOMBERG
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