Metalpha raising $100M to offer Grayscale Bitcoin products in Hong Kong

Metalpha has secured $20 million out of the planned $100 million for its new fund from overseas Chinese investors, the CEO said.

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency wealth manager Metalpha Technology is working to offer new entry points into Bitcoin (BTC) and Web3 to investors in Asia.

Metalpha is raising a $100 million fund to invest in Bitcoin and other crypto products from the major United States-based crypto asset manager, Grayscale Investments. The new fund aims to help Chinese investors get a regulated channel to invest in cryptocurrencies and Web3, Bloomberg reported on April 12.

Known as the Next Generation Fund I, Metalpha’s upcoming investment project is launched in partnership with NextGen Digital Ventures. The fund will invest directly in Grayscale’s crypto investment products and indirectly through structured derivatives related to Grayscale’s products, allowing institutions and high-net-worth individuals to get indirect exposure to crypto.

According to Metalpha founder and CEO Adrian Wang, the company has secured $20 million for its new fund since March. He said that the fund had attracted many Chinese investors, stating:

“A lot of our clients are family offices with traditional backgrounds, rather than pure crypto or pure Web3 native investors […] It’s overseas Chinese institutions — some of them are family offices, some of them are public companies.”

Wang also noted that Metalpha had seen increased demand for its products recently, which followed a series of difficulties connected to the bear market of 2022 and the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange. “A lot of clients hesitated to place new orders, but now it’s getting much better,” Wang stated, adding that a lot of new traffic is coming in, and people are gaining more confidence now.

Founded in 2015, Metalpha was initially known as Dragon Victory International, offering supply chain management platform services and cryptocurrency derivatives product services in Hong Kong. The firm rebranded to Metalpha in late 2022, soon after receiving a Nasdaq notification regarding minimum bid price deficiency. Metalpha regained compliance with Nasdaq’s listing rules as of April 2023.

Metalpha is backed by Singapore-based venture capital firm Antalpha, which has been reportedly working with the Chinese crypto mining firm Bitmain to offer low-interest loans to crypto miners.

Magazine: Asia Express: US and China try to crush Binance, SBF’s $40M bribe claim