Inversion Chain: The first crypto private equity strategy founded by former ParaFi partners L1 | Focus on ultra-early stage projects
Apart from the founders and the initial concept of the project, Inversion currently has nothing else. In a recent post by Santos, he is also recruiting a CTO and other team members.Author: Nianqing, ChainCatcher
On February 12, former ParaFi Capital partner Santiago Roel Santos announced Inversion Chain on social media. He stated that Inversion will focus on "on-chain actual GDP," allowing businesses to fundamentally improve their operations and performance through blockchain integration. Inversion Chain will drive the world's first crypto-native private equity strategy, specifically by acquiring traditional companies and anchoring them on the Inversion chain.
Previously, in November last year, Santiago Roel Santos announced the launch of the private equity fund Inversion Capital, which was also the embryonic stage of the Inversion Chain concept. At that time, Santiago had already decided to acquire traditional companies and use crypto technology to transform their operations. He particularly emphasized "acquisition" rather than collaboration or acceptance from businesses, which also means that Inversion Chain will be a customized, sovereign L1.
It is reported that Inversion Chain will adopt customized chain technology from Avalanche L1. Aside from the founders and the initial concept of the project, Inversion currently has nothing else. In Santos's recent posts, he is also recruiting a CTO and other team members. However, this seemingly ambitious project has already taken root.
About Founder Santiago Roel Santos
Santiago Roel Santos is the founder of Inversion Capital and was a general partner at ParaFi Capital. He is also the founder of EON Capital and Roca Capital. As an angel investor, he primarily focuses on technology, healthcare, and other areas. Previously, he worked in the financial sponsorship team at JPMorgan's investment bank, then invested at Sageview Capital and helped internet and software companies expand, later serving as a growth and research advisor at Elysium Health. He is one of the youngest recipients of JPMorgan's Leadership Scholarship and earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Boston University with excellent results in just three years.
A significant part of Santos's work experience was as a partner at ParaFi Capital. ParaFi Capital is an institutional investor that strategically positioned itself early in the DeFi space, having invested in many early DeFi protocols such as MakerDAO, Kyber Network, Aave, and Curve. Although Santos left ParaFi four years ago, he still inherits ParaFi's belief in RWA.
In recent years, ParaFi Capital has invested in several RWA projects, including the on-chain luxury watch trading market Kettle, the RWA lending protocol Centrifuge, and the real estate derivatives protocol Parcl. In September last year, ParaFi also announced that it would tokenize part of its $1.2 billion portfolio on the Avalanche blockchain through the Securitize platform. This was the first attempt at fund tokenization, allowing a portion of equity from its latest venture capital fund to be tokenized and sold to investors, enabling more people to participate in opportunities that were previously limited to large institutions or wealthy investors.
Additionally, Santos himself is a very active angel investor, having invested in over 80 projects including Illuvium, Blast, StepN, NEAR, Manta, LayerZero, Blur, and MegaETH (see more on RootData page).
What Does Inversion Chain Aim to Do?
Santiago Roel Santos believes that the biggest challenge currently facing the crypto market is the issue of adoption. His proposed solution is to transition traditional businesses to the blockchain, bringing real enterprises on-chain to drive real user adoption.
One value marker that Santos repeatedly mentions on his personal social media is "Berkshire onchain."
Berkshire is a multinational conglomerate holding company in the United States that manages several subsidiaries. Originally a textile company, it transformed into a holding company after Warren Buffett took control in 1965, effectively allocating its retained earnings. Its subsidiaries cover a wide range of industries, including railroads, energy, insurance, food, and real estate brokerage.
Berkshire has an unusual management strategy. Buffett delegates key decision-making authority to the managers of each subsidiary, which is an uncommon form of decentralization. In his 2017 letter to Berkshire shareholders, he wrote, "Our power has almost reached the point of abandonment." Berkshire's headquarters has only 26 employees, with no legal advisors, investor relations, or public relations personnel.
Santos explains that by going on-chain, businesses can fundamentally improve their operations and performance. Inversion L1 is tailored to promote the world's first crypto-native private equity strategy, much like how KKR transformed private equity acquisitions through financial engineering in the 1980s.
Inversion's goal is to: acquire traditional companies ------ replace inefficient infrastructure and systems with blockchain ------ create industry leaders with top-tier profit margins ------ build the largest on-chain economy using blockchain technologies such as DePIN, stablecoins, and DeFi.
Inversion seeks to acquire companies with mature distribution channels and sticky user bases to ensure the construction of the largest and most efficient crypto customer base.
Why Choose Avalanche?****
Santos stated in an interview that Avalanche is one of the few places that can "truly" customize chains for specific use cases and provide support across all strategies. It also allows Inversion to permit its network at various levels (whether validator, smart contract deployer, or transaction level), thereby maintaining greater control and security where it is most needed. Additionally, Avalanche meets its requirements in terms of privacy, EVM compatibility, native interoperability, gas, and customizable staking tokens.
Moreover, a crucial point is that ParaFi Capital has previously invested in Avalanche, which may provide a foundation of cooperation and trust between the two. After all, ParaFi itself sought Avalanche for its fund tokenization attempt.
