ChainCatcher news, according to Fortune, early blockchain venture capital firm Portal Ventures is nearing the final close of its second fund, which has a target size of $75 million. Its founder and general partner Evan Fisher stated that the fund has been oversubscribed, reaching $90 million.According to documents submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August, the initial fund target was $70 million, but Portal later decided to raise the cap by $5 million.Fisher and another general partner, Catrina Wang, stated that Portal's investment strategy differs from other funds, focusing on early-stage "pre-seed" investments and has garnered support from top-tier investors. Portal's first fund was fully deployed in May of this year, and Fisher expects distributions to begin next year.

ChainCatcher news, IOBC Capital partner Alva Xu shared his insights on Token2049 on the X platform, noting several changes in the Crypto primary market from the perspective of an active Crypto LP:Some large funds from Europe and the United States are accelerating their fundraising efforts, and their commitment and focus indicate their determination to compete fiercely with Asian LPs. The conversation afterward was not exciting; AUM is the enemy of venture capital funds.European and American funds are squeezing the survival space of Asian funds, and LPs are becoming as valuable as quality developers, so IR will become increasingly important in the future.In today's market shift, some GPs are showcasing various strategies, such as buying OTC shares, pushing into the secondary market, and incubating projects. The core purpose is to prove they can outperform Bitcoin returns, and isn't the essence of venture capital to support great companies early on? Therefore, these flashy strategies might be less effective than returning to the original mission, which can resonate more with investors.In light of the current situation, this LP offered three suggestions for fund fundraising:Do not emphasize financial returns and DPI, as LPs can directly buy ETFs or hold BTC.Position yourself as an explorer in the industry; a strong desire for exploration and having your own worldview can better impress LPs, after all, investing in a company represents the kind of world you want to build.Conduct due diligence on each LP's strategic planning; understanding LPs' strategic investment layout is very important.

ChainCatcher news, according to PitchBook data, as of August, crypto venture capital firms have raised over $2.2 billion in new capital this year through closed-end funds. In just the past few weeks, at least six venture capital firms have collectively raised over $500 million. This includes ParaFi Capital's $120 million fund, Borderless Capital's $100 million fund, Hack VC's $77 million fund, and Robot Ventures' $75 million fund.Additionally, several funds are actively seeking new capital this year. According to Bloomberg, Dragonfly Capital is looking to raise $500 million for its new fund and has already raised half of that amount.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, Alexander Lin and Carl Hua have founded a new venture capital fund called Reforge, aiming to raise $80 million, of which $25 million has been secured so far. Through Reforge, Lin hopes to find technologies that make it easier for founders and developers to adopt blockchain. He stated, "We believe that the current landscape of layer one blockchains does not meet the needs of the best consumer founders."In addition, Reforge co-founder Alexander Lin believes that the rapid launch of tokens driven by capital allocators seeking returns is a major reason for this. He also criticized the overheated investment phenomenon in cross-border startups between crypto and artificial intelligence, questioning the feasibility of decentralized computing networks meeting the power demands of AI tools.It is reported that Lin and Carl Hua both held senior positions at Shima Capital until leaving in January this year to establish Reforge.Previous news reported that the founder of crypto venture capital Shima Capital is suspected of misappropriating assets, and several company executives have resigned. Its founder Yida Gao created secret offshore entities and transferred assets belonging to his venture capital firm to companies registered in his own name, without the knowledge of other investors in those companies.

ChainCatcher news, Frank Chaparro, the Special Projects Director at The Block, and Laura Vidiella from MNNC Group published a joint opinion article calling on investors to focus on the long-term development of the crypto industry. Despite the poor performance of the crypto market in September 2024 and recent employment reports dampening market sentiment, the industry is still steadily developing from a macro perspective. Laura recently attended Korea Blockchain Week and hosted a panel discussion on the evolution of liquidity funds and venture capital funds.According to statistics, the number of funds focused on crypto investments worldwide has surged from about 50 in 2018 to over 1,150 currently. In comparison, there are about 4,000 registered hedge funds in the United States and approximately 30,000 globally. In terms of financing, the crypto industry raised over $72 billion from 2018 to 2023, while traditional venture capital in the U.S. raised over $600 billion during the same period.Although the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs at the beginning of 2024 brought high expectations, this year is more likely to be a transitional period. The current cycle should not be simply compared to previous cycles, as the industry landscape has changed dramatically. If investors feel frustrated, they can take a break or look at industry development trends from a longer-term perspective, which may provide better insights.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, British hedge fund billionaire Alan Howard's son Daniel Howard and partner Bhavin Vaid have announced the establishment of a crypto venture capital fund called Halo Capital. The fund has raised $25 million, aiming to bring a growth investor mindset to early-stage crypto projects.Halo Capital is headquartered in New York and has a broad investment scope, covering various fields from Bitcoin to decentralized artificial intelligence. The fund has invested in projects such as Bima Labs and Andrena, and has brought in about 20 partners to provide expert advice. Both founders come from the cryptocurrency-focused private equity firm 10T Holdings, and they began fundraising in March of this year, officially launching the fund's operations in June.

ChainCatcher message, ChainCatcher, in collaboration with the crypto media Blocktempo, has launched a survey on the research methods of crypto venture capital in the Asia-Pacific region.As the crypto industry enters a new development cycle, understanding the changes in venture capital research methods and standards helps to reduce information gaps, identify quality projects for the next cycle, and promote the effective allocation of market resources.Click the link to participate in this survey. The results will be published on over 10 authoritative media platforms, and completing the questionnaire takes only 10-15 minutes. Participants will have the chance to receive 100 Plus version APIs (3 months of usage) provided by RootData, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

ChainCatcher news, according to a new quarterly report from PitchBook, cryptocurrency financing has grown by 2.5%, reaching $2.7 billion. Despite the increase in amount, the number of transactions has decreased by 12.5%.PitchBook senior analyst Robert Le stated, "Investors are concentrating capital on a narrower range of opportunities, marking a leap towards quality. A few years ago, their investments were more diversified across various sectors. Overall financing in 2024 is expected to grow by 20% or more compared to last year, reaching between $12 billion and $14 billion this year, up from about $10 billion last year."

ChainCatcher news, Cinneamhain Ventures partner Adam Cochran posted on social media that the pace of venture capital investment in cryptocurrency has significantly slowed, with a subtle reason behind it. Most venture capital firms have limited partners (LPs), who are primarily interested in returns that exceed those of index funds. However, in the medium term, simply holding Bitcoin and Ethereum can "easily outperform" index funds in terms of risk-adjusted returns.This allows venture capitalists to take a wait-and-see approach towards Bitcoin and Ethereum, waiting for safer and more profitable opportunities, rather than taking on as much early risk in startups as they would in other industries. This is because there are no assets in other markets that provide holding yields like BTC or ETH.Adam Cochran stated that during the last crypto cycle (2020 to 2024), venture capital firms "seemed very active," hoping to get rich alongside participants by investing in applications that had "already exploded." However, several known narratives (NFTs, AMM forks, DeFi, L2s) have already reached their end, and it is currently unclear what the next steps should be.

ChainCatcher news, according to DL News*,* sources familiar with the investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that the SEC has issued subpoenas to at least three cryptocurrency venture capital firms this year. DL News reviewed the first page of the subpoena. The page states: "SEC staff is investigating the above matters to determine whether there have been violations of federal securities laws."Insiders indicated that at least two other crypto VC firms received essentially the same document requests. According to the source, the subpoenas sent to these crypto VCs request all contracts related to token transactions.Reportedly, sources familiar with the investigation stated that the SEC is interested in whether these accredited investors are issuing unregistered securities to the broader retail market on behalf of token issuers. The individual added, "This would poison the initial offering," referring to what happens when investors are alleged to sell tokens on the public market.Additionally, a lawyer from a crypto VC firm not affected by the subpoenas stated, "This is an excessive investigation and extremely costly."

ChainCatcher news, according to informed sources, despite signs of recovery in the Web3 market, the European venture capital firm XAnge has quietly stopped raising funds for its first cryptocurrency venture capital fund.In 2022, the venture capital announced it was raising funds for its dedicated cryptocurrency fund, the Digital Ownership Fund, with a target size of 80 million euros, recruiting Luc Jodet, co-founder of the Paris Web3 luxury platform Arianee. However, now due to difficulties in securing enough supporters to complete the initial fundraising, its CEO Cyril Bertrand has stated that they will no longer raise funds for this cryptocurrency-specific fund.

ChainCatcher news, Hypersphere Ventures has opened its $130 million liquidity fund to external investors, which will employ Wall Street-style strategies to generate returns from crypto assets.The fund's staff comes from high-frequency trading firm Millennium and hedge fund Bridgewater. Hypersphere intends to adopt the multi-manager approach used by Millennium and Bridgewater to provide investors with niche trading strategies while maintaining low volatility.In addition, Hypersphere will also raise a new venture fund to invest in early-stage crypto projects. The company plans to raise $75 million for this venture capital fund, with fundraising set to begin in the fall.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Wall Street Journal, cryptocurrency and blockchain venture capital firm New Form Capital has launched a $100 million fundraising effort aimed at returning to the once-troubled cryptocurrency industry.New Form Capital stated that the venture will focus on reshaping traditional finance through crypto-related technologies, including trading markets and payment systems. Additionally, they revealed that they will also invest in some AI startups related to cryptocurrency and blockchain.

ChainCatcher news, the New York-based crypto venture capital firm Aquarius has launched a multi-strategy liquidity fund, managing assets of $600 million, supported by Bitrise Capital, mining companies, family offices, and KOLs. The multi-strategy liquidity fund aims to provide short-term and long-term liquidity management solutions based on different risk profiles. As the first institutional fund of its kind, it systematically manages on-chain liquidity and assists various blockchain foundations and ecosystem projects in meeting their liquidity needs.Aquarius was founded in 2018 and simultaneously manages venture capital funds and liquidity funds, focusing on Pre-Seed and Seed round investments in infrastructure, DeFi, artificial intelligence, the BTC ecosystem, modular architecture, data layers, and high-traffic applications.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, as the financing scale of the digital asset industry rises again, venture capital firms are turning to crypto startups and projects founded by professors and scholars.Analysis shows that the crypto projects Shara, CheckSig, and NEBRA were all founded by scholars, and these projects have successfully raised funding support in the past two months.Notably, EigenLayer, founded by University of Washington associate professor Sreeram Kannan, secured $100 million in February this year with participation from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), while the crypto project Babylon, founded by Stanford University professor David Tse, successfully raised $18 million. Both projects focus on the vertical field of restaking in crypto.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the crypto-focused venture capital firm Contango Digital Assets announced the successful initial fundraising of its new fund, the Contango Blockchain x AI Fund, which has raised $5 million to date, aimed at supporting companies established at the intersection of blockchain and artificial intelligence.It is reported that the fund has allocated some of its capital to projects within the Bittensor ecosystem.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, JPMorgan analysts pointed out that despite the recent recovery in the cryptocurrency market, the venture capital funding flowing into the crypto industry this year is relatively insufficient, which may pose a downside risk.The team led by JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote in a report: "Compared to previous years, the inflow of various cryptocurrency venture capital seems to be relatively sluggish so far this year." "We have previously argued that a recovery in cryptocurrency venture capital inflows is a necessary condition for the continued recovery of the cryptocurrency market; therefore, in our view, the relatively sluggish venture capital inflows so far pose a downside risk."

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, cryptocurrency venture capital firm 1kx has raised $75 million for its new fund, which has received investments from venture capitalists Marc Andreessen, Accolade Partners, and Galaxy Digital.1kx founding partner Lasse Clausen stated in an interview that Chris Dixon, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, is also one of the limited partners in the fund, and Accolade is the main investor in the new fund. 1kx focuses on areas including consumer-facing crypto applications. The new fund has made about five investments but has not disclosed the names of the startups it supports.

ChainCatcher news, announced by 10T Holdings founder Dan Tapiero, the cryptocurrency-focused venture capital firm 1RoundTable has declared that it will raise up to $800 million for a new venture fund focused on growth-stage startups, with plans to raise at least $200 million by the time the fund closes in March 2024.1RoundTable stated that the fund will focus on growth-stage companies in three main areas: infrastructure, blockchain, and financial services. The fund will also seek to invest in smaller sectors: blockchain gaming, NFTs, and the metaverse.