New York Digital Investments Group (NYDIG) raised $150 million for two new funds to invest in cryptocurrencies, a move that underscores the one-stop crypto shop’s skyrocketing clout on the institutional bitcoin scene.
As revealed in two U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, NYDIG Digital Assets Fund I raised $50 million from institutional investors while NYDIG Digital Assets Fund II raised $100 million.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed to CoinDesk that Fund I invests entirely in bitcoin. The source said it is NYDIG’s latest offering for a growing lineup of institutional clients going long on BTC.
It was not immediately clear whether Fund II also invests solely in the market-leading cryptocurrency.
But more intriguing than the size of the two new NYDIG offerings are the identity of the whales who bought in. Just two unnamed investors appear to have participated in NYDIG’s $50 million bitcoin fund, while it seems its larger brother got all its cash from just one.
The funds capture the extent to which deep-pocketed players are powering the 2020 bull run. Corporations making the crypto their treasury reserve, storied investors pumping their bags on CNBC and institutions piling in have combined to push BTC to new all-time highs.
That crypto-forward institutional investors would flock to NYDIG should be no surprise to those familiar with the space. NYDIG was spun out of $10 billion Stone Ridge Asset Management in 2017 with a mission to court institutional cryptocurrency newcomers. It quickly hired BitLicense architect Benjamin Lawsky and secured $50 million in funding to build out the team.
NYDIG raised an additional $50 million in growth equity in October. It now offers custody, execution, investment and prime brokerage services to hedge funds, pensions, banks and other high-dollar clients.
The two funds continue NYDIG’s recent trend of registering its crypto offerings as Rule 506(c) investment vehicles. Essentially, that means NYDIG can advertise the funds to a wider audience.
