3 Family Offices Investing in Cryptocurrency

As the leading family office and registered investment advisor (RIA) database provider, we continue to see private wealth vehicles accumulate the assets and skills necessary to allocate capital directly into the alternative wealth landscape. By harnessing the FINTRX family office data platform, which provides intel into thousands of direct deal transactions made by over 3,600+ family offices around the globe, we explore three family offices investing in cryptocurrency.

1. Thiel Capital (Peter Thiel Family Office)

With roots dating back to 1996, Thiel Capital (Peter Thiel Family Office) a low-profile San Francisco, CA-based single-family office managing the capital of entrepreneur and co-founder of PayPal, Peter Thiel. Thiel is also the founder of global macro hedge fund, Clarium Capital, the big data analytics company, Palantir Technologies, and was Facebook’s first outside investor in 2004. While the firm has a minimal web presence, Thiel Capital invests in both public and private equity across a range of sectors, regions, and asset classes. Because of the firm's privately owned status, Thiel Capital does not disclose its AUM. 

2. Raptor Group (Pallotta Family Office)

Established in 2009, Raptor Group (Pallotta Family Office) is a Boston, MA-based single-family office managing the capital of Jim Pallotta. Pallotta was most recently Vice Chairman of Tudor Investment Corporation, where he handled over $10B in long/short equities. Pallotta also developed Tudor's venture capital program and its outside managers’ seeding business. Raptor Group invests in both private and public equity across a range of sectors, regions, and asset classes. Because of its privately owned status, the firm does not disclose its AUM. Raptor Group has an additional office in New York City and takes a global approach when researching companies.

Today, Raptor Group invests in early-stage ventures in both private and public equity companies, across a range of sectors, regions, and asset classes. The firm takes a primary interest in investing Pallotta's capital directly into private companies - ranging mainly from sports, consumer goods, technology, media & entertainment, and financial services - among others. Raptor Group is very active in the fintech space and often prefers fintech companies, which offer large-scale capital growth solutions. For instance, in August 2014, the firm made a seed investment in Nebulous Inc. (Sia & Obelisk), a Boston, MA-based decentralized cloud storage platform. Sia leverages blockchain technology to create a data storage marketplace that is more robust and affordable than traditional cloud storage providers. Nebulous, Inc. was established in 2014 and launched the Sia Storage Platform in 2015. Blockchain technology secures their data and enables improved economics for users and hosts. Raptor Group made a follow-on investment in September 2016. 

In January 2019, Raptor Group made an undisclosed investment in Symbiont, a platform for institutional applications of blockchain technology that enables complex instruments to live their entire life cycle on a decentralized enterprise blockchain network with end-to-end privacy. Headquartered in New York City, Symbiont is a financial technology company founded by a team of experts in capital markets and blockchain technology. In March 2021, Raptor Group invested in BlockFi Lending LLC, a financial services company offering interest-earning accounts, low-cost USD loans secured with crypto, and fee-free trading to individuals and businesses worldwide. Founded in 2017 by Zac Prince and Flori Marquez, BlockFi was created to provide credit services to markets with limited access to simple financial products. BlockFi sets itself apart from other crypto service providers by pairing competitive rates with institutional-quality benefits. Its team comprises professionals with expertise across financial services and technology with offices in New York, New Jersey, Singapore, Poland, and Argentina.

3. Soros Fund Management (Soros Family Office)

Founded in Soros Fund Management is a New York City, NY-based single-family office managing the capital of American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and fund manager, George Soros. The firm is relatively under-the-radar but invests in both private and public equity across a range of sectors, regions, and asset classes. In particular, Soros Fund Management is an active investor in hedge funds, real estate, private equity, and venture capital funds. The firm will also invest in capital-intensive start-ups, distressed debt, buyouts, direct investments into private companies, and growth equity transactions. Sectors and industries of interest include data, financial services, mobile applications, technology, shipping, cryptocurrency, business services, internet, transportation, energy, retail, and more.

In March 2021, Soros Fund Management made a $200M venture investment in NYDIG, a technology and financial services firm dedicated to Bitcoin. NYDIG is an inclusive financial system that makes Bitcoin a universal option for billions of people worldwide. In the same month, Soros Fund Management made a $53M Series D investment in Lukka, a data and software solution for managing crypto assets on infrastructure built for the future of commerce. Lukka believes digital assets and blockchain will be the fabric of global commerce. Its employees come from traditional finance, accounting, tax, blockchain, and digital assets, as well as fintech software and data companies.

Little information is publicly available regarding Soros Fund Management's investment criteria. However, the firm typically invests between $10M to $150M per investment and will invest in all stages of a company's life cycle, though its focus is on earlier-stage companies and rounds of funding. Soros Family Office will invest in multiple funding rounds for the same company and will act as the lead or non-lead investor. The group typically provides funding as equity, debt financing, or convertible notes.

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