Bain Capital Ventures unveils $560m crypto investment fund
Investment giant Bain Capital Ventures is betting big on crypto with the launch of a dedicated $560m fund.
The firm has already invested $100m into crypto projects from the fund which closed in November, Bloomberg first reported. Bain Capital Ventures is no stranger to the digital assets space having already invested in projects including BlockFi, Compound and Digital Currency Group.
“We’ve become quite high conviction we are at the beginning of a multi-decade technology shift,” Stefan Cohen, a managing partner at Bain Capital Crypto, told Bloomberg. “We really needed a dedicated team and a dedicated fund structure. That’s really what lead to the addition of Bain Capital Crypto.”
The announcement follows an explosion of VC interest in crypto during 2021. Over $31bn of venture capital flowed into crypto projects last year, more than the ten previous years combined according to Pitchbook data.
The momentum shows no sign of stopping in 2022 despite crypto markets facing a period of turbulence. Bitcoin has shed 43 per cent of its value compared to an all time high above $69,000, reached four months ago in November 2021.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also added to volatility in the crypto markets with regulators sounding the alarm that digital assets are being used to evade sanctions, prompting fears of a crackdown.
Alex Evans, a managing partner at the new fund, told Bloomberg that the fund is “fundamentally a long-term oriented, 10-year fund.” As a result, he said the company is “unfazed and in some ways uninterested in short-term market gyrations.”