Topic: [2018-03-28] Mark Yusko Raising Capital for $500 Million Cryptoasset Hedge Fund (Read 110 times)

One of Bitcoin’s biggest bulls is doubling down on his conviction that the future is bright for cryptoassets.

Mark Yusko, founder and chief investment officer at Morgan Creek Capital, announced that the Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based firm is seeking to raise up to $500 million to start a new hedge fund focused exclusively on cryptoassets and other blockchain-related investments.

“Morgan Creek believes blockchain to be one of the most powerful and valuable technologies to have been developed in the digital age and also believes that the disruptive power of the application of blockchain technology across all asset classes will create enormous investment opportunities,” Yusko said, according to a Bloomberg report.

As CCN has reported, Yusko is on record predicting that the Bitcoin price will reach $1 million over the next several decades. He added that he believes there is a 75 percent chance Bitcoin will at least reach $500,000 within the next 20 years.

To facilitate its new emphasis on cryptoassets, Morgan Creek acquired nearby Full Tilt Capital — located in nearby Raleigh, North Carolina — a venture firm that recently launched a fund dedicated wholly to cryptoassets.

Anthony Pompliano — a managing partner at Full Tilt — told Bloomberg that the new fund could attempt to tokenize real estate, debt, and other types of equity and selling them to investors, though these plans will doubtlessly encounter several major regulatory hurdles.

If Morgan Creek succeeds in raising the full $500 million, it will constitute approximately 25 percent of the firm’s total assets under management and be the market’s single-largest cryptoasset hedge fund.

Previously, Mike Novogratz — a former Fortress principal — had planned to launch a $500 million cryptoasset hedge fund, but he ultimately scrapped those plans and instead raised $250 million to establish the first cryptoasset merchant bank.

The timing of the pivot is notable, given that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun probing these funds as part of its wider investigation into the nascent initial coin offering (ICO) industry.

https://www.ccn.com/bitcoin-bull-mark-yusko-raising-capital-for-500-million-cryptoasset-hedge-fund/