A Hong Kong crypto VC has opened a $100 million fund for blockchain startups in Asia Cryptocurrency scrgruppen

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency-focused venture capital firm CMCC Global has raised $100 million with the aim of backing blockchain startups in Asia.

The cryptocurrency fund, called Titan Fund, closed its inaugural funding round on October 4 after seeing participation from 30 investors, including blockchain company Block.one, Hong Kong tycoon Richard Lee’s Pacific Century Group, Winklevoss Capital, Jebsen Capital, and the founder of Animoca Brands. Yat Siu. , South China Morning Post mentioned.

The Titan Fund will focus on investments in three key areas: blockchain infrastructure, consumer applications such as gaming and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and financial services including exchanges, wallets, and lending and borrowing platforms.

CMCC Global’s cryptocurrency fund will be the fourth fund to offer equity investments to early-stage blockchain startups with a focus on Hong Kong. The fund has already conducted five investment rounds, two of which went towards startups in Hong Kong.

The two Hong Kong startups include Mocaverse, an NFT project launched in December 2022 by Hong Kong startup Animoca Brands that raised US$20 million in September. Before that, in August, Titan Fund participated in the seed funding round of Terminal 3, a Hong Kong-based Web3 data infrastructure startup.

The $100 million cryptocurrency venture fund comes amid a drought in cryptocurrency funding related to the bear market and FTX collapse. According to data from Pitchbook, the value of global venture capital investments in cryptocurrency companies fell by 70.9% year-on-year, while the number of deals fell by 55%. This is in stark contrast to the bull market when cryptocurrency-based startups raised millions and the cryptocurrency ecosystem saw a new unicorn every couple of months.

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The launch of a crypto venture capital fund in Hong Kong also signals the city’s growing importance as a safe port for cryptocurrencies. The crackdown on cryptocurrencies in the US means Asian companies are benefiting, as “projects are thinking about coming here and talking to us,” said Yin Xiaosen, managing director of Titan Fund.

Hong Kong announced a shift in its cryptocurrency policy in October last year, with the government making it clear that it would focus on building regulation to encourage Web3. Regulators doubled down on the policy shift and drafted pro-crypto regulations to make way for regulated cryptocurrency exchanges and even open services to retail clients.

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