VanEck, a prominent U.S. asset manager, seeks to gather $30 million to establish its initial cryptocurrency investment fund.
VanEck Launches New Crypto Venture Arm to Revolutionize Financial Services
VanEck, a renowned New York-based asset manager with over $115 billion in assets under management, has taken a significant step into the cryptocurrency space. The company has launched a new venture arm dedicated to crypto projects, led by Wyatt Lonergan and Juan Lopez, former leaders at Circle Ventures [1].
The new venture arm, focused on investing at the intersection of traditional finance and blockchain technology, aims to evolve crypto infrastructure from experimental technology into regulated financial products. The strategy emphasizes backing companies that build institutional-grade infrastructure enabling crypto-native finance, such as tokenized securities platforms, stablecoin payment systems, and fintech integrations using blockchain rails [1].
Juan Lopez, co-lead of VanEck's new venture arm, is particularly enthusiastic about the potential of stablecoins for disrupting cross-border payments. He sees them as an open-source banking-as-a-service layer that could lead to a "fintech explosion built on stablecoins" [1]. Lopez believes that on-chain payments systems on platforms like Solana could help address some weaknesses of traditional payment rails [2].
The new fund, which prioritizes early-stage startups focused on tokenization and stablecoins, plans to make 25-30 investments. It has already made four unannounced investments [3]. The investment checks from the new fund will range from $500,000 to $1 million [3].
VanEck was among the first to file for a Spot Bitcoin ETF in 2018 and a Spot ether ETF in 2021 [1]. The business-to-business cross-border payments market, valued at approximately $39 trillion, presents a significant opportunity for the new venture arm [4].
The fund is open to both equity and token projects, according to Lopez, who mentioned this in a conversation with The Block [5]. In 2022, VanEck also launched a community NFT collection featuring 1000 VanEck NFTs [6].
The new fund seeks to raise $30 million for its first crypto fund, which will be invested in startups at the intersection of fintech, crypto, and artificial intelligence [3]. With this move, VanEck is positioning itself at the forefront of the cryptocurrency revolution, aiming to facilitate the institutional adoption of blockchain technology to improve traditional financial services.
References:
- VanEck Launches Crypto Venture Arm
- Lopez Discusses On-Chain Payments on Solana
- VanEck's Crypto Fund Aims to Make 25-30 Investments
- Cross-Border Payments Market Valued at $39 Trillion
- VanEck's Fund Open to Both Equity and Token Projects
- VanEck Launches Community NFT Collection
- The new crypto venture arm led by Lonergan and Lopez at VanEck, a renowned asset management firm, aims to revolutionize financial services, particularly focusing on investing at the intersection of traditional finance, blockchain technology, and artificial intelligence.
- With the new fund, VanEck plans to make 25-30 investments in early-stage startups that are focused on Tokenization and stablecoins, which are seen as promising technologies for disrupting cross-border payments.
- Juan Lopez, co-lead of VanEck's new venture arm, believes that on-chain payments systems on platforms like Solana could help address some weaknesses of traditional payment rails, potentially leading to a fintech explosion built on stablecoins.
