Pantera revealed Friday it has raised $369 million for a new blockchain investment fund, partially restocking a war chest for diverse bets in the industry. According to regulatory filings, the fundraise that began in July was from 107 investors, and it is staying open "indefinitely."
Crypto venture capital firm Pantera originally targeted $600 million for its new fund, which is meant to be an omnibus crypto investment vehicle. The blockchain fund will deploy capital into startup equity, early stage protocol tokens, and more well-known digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC). Pantera had $4.7 billion in assets under management on August 31, a pitch deck showed. Pantera's new fundraise comes as the VC sector has invested a record $4 billion in crypto startups during the second quarter.
Here is the rest of the week in review:
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday once again delayed ruling on investment manager VanEck's bid for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is becoming a repeat experience for the crypto sector. The U.S. markets regulator extended its new deadline until November 14 to approve or reject the VanEck Bitcoin Trust, one of the earliest Bitcoin ETF hopefuls and the first whose decision day has been delayed 3 times. But since the SEC can legally only extend its consideration period for prospective ETFs 3 times, that means the new November 14 deadline will yield a final decision on whether VanEck's offering is approved. Asset managers have attempted to modify their offerings in recent weeks, filing ETFs based on the Bitcoin futures markets instead of the Bitcoin spot market, believing the change is a good strategy based on remarks by SEC Chair Gary Gensler that futures may be preferred. If the SEC gives the green light to Van Eck's proposal, it will become the first Bitcoin ETF in the U.S.
SIX obtained regulatory authorization on Friday to debut a new exchange and depository for digital assets. Swiss financial regulator FINMA approved the SIX Digital Exchange to offer trading and custody of digital assets. The Swiss stock exchange first unveiled plans to develop a digital asset exchange based on blockchain technology in July 2018, and now FINMA has granted SIX 2 licenses to operate a stock exchange and central securities depository (CSD). SIX is the first major stock exchange in the world to launch its own digital asset exchange. Thomas Zeeb, SIX's global head of exchanges, said: "This is an important milestone in providing institutional investors with a safe and robust infrastructure meeting all of the core requirements of a traditional exchange and CSD infrastructure." Although it is still unclear which digital assets will be available for trading on the new exchange, the FINMA approval means SDX is able to create the necessary ecosystem with liquidity for digital assets and onboard its first clients over the coming months, including banks, issuers, insurers, and institutional investors.
Crypto prices slipped to $2.12 trillion this week. For the majors, Solana (SOL) surged, but Dogecoin (DOGE), Binance Coin (BNB), and XRP plunged. In the top 100, the biggest losers were eCash (XEC), down 32%, Filecoin (FIL), down 28%, and Revain (REV), down 24%. The biggest gainers were Algorand (ALGO), up a whopping 80%, Elrond (EGLD), up 66%, and Harmony (ONE), up 53%. Next week traders will watch if Bitcoin can near $50,000 again.
The author owns a small amount of BTC.
- 1. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/09/10/pantera-capitals-latest-crypto-fund-has-raised-369m-since-july/
- 2. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/09/09/sec-sets-november-deadline-for-final-decision-on-vaneck-bitcoin-etf/
- 3. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/09/10/swiss-stock-exchange-gets-regulatory-nod-to-launch-digital-asset-exchange/