On Wednesday, Anthony Scaramucci’s global alternative investment firm SkyBridge Capital announced that it plans to launch a fund for web3 and crypto startups in September.
The fund will mix traditional venture and growth equity and be open to accredited investors. The venture and growth equity-style fund will mainly invest in privately held web3 financial technology firms and growth and late-stage crypto firms.
SkyBridge plans to announce the venture fund at its annual Salt conference on September 12.
According to the announcement, as cited by sources familiar with the matter, the fund aims to be at the forefront of decentralised finance, which is in line with Scaramucci’s vision. As per the report, SkyBridge will focus on firms trading at discounts on the secondary market and companies that continue raising primary rounds.
Early this year, SkyBridge, a major traditional fund manager, shifted its attention to cryptocurrency.
Market Volatility Hitting Capital Investments
The plan to roll out the venture fund comes a few days after SkyBridge joined a growing list of firms that have halted withdrawals from one of its crypto-exposed funds.
On 19th July, SkyBridge suspended withdrawals from its Legion Strategies Fund because of its crypto exposure.
Legion Strategies manages about $250 million, of which only 18% or around $45 million is dedicated to investments related to cryptocurrencies. The Legion Strategies Fund is exposed to crypto through investments in the Sam Bankman-Fried-led FTX exchange, along with exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Algorand.
SkyBridge founder Anthony Scaramucci stepped in and assured clients that no assets were at risk for liquidations and said the suspension was only temporary.
Scaramucci said the board had voted to temporarily suspend withdrawals because the fund faced difficulties selling private stocks, which comprise around 20% of the fund’s portfolio.
Amid the current market volatility and other inflationary pressures, private company stocks have become difficult to sell. One of the fund’s private investments is in the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
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