Hong Kong crypto VC opens $100M fund for Asian blockchain startups

Hong Kong-based crypto-focused venture capital firm CMCC Global has raised $100 million aimed at supporting Asian blockchain startups.

The crypto fund, called Titan Fund, closed its inaugural funding round on Oct. 4 having seen participation from 30 investors including blockchain company Block.one, Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li’s Pacific Century Group, Winklevoss Capital, Jebsen Capital and Animoca Brands founder Yat Siu, the South China Morning Post reported.

Titan Fund will concentrate on investments in three key areas namely blockchain infrastructure, consumer applications like gaming and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and financial services including exchanges, wallets, and platforms for lending and borrowing.

The crypto fund from CMCC Global will be its fourth to offer equity investments to early-stage blockchain start-ups with Hong Kong in focus. The fund has already made five investment rounds, with two of these investments going toward Hong Kong-based startups.

The two Hong Kong startups include Mocaverse, an NFT project launched in December 2022 by Hong Kong blockchain firm Animoca Brands that raised US$20 million in September. Before that, in August, the Titan fund participated in the pre-seed funding round for Terminal 3, a Hong Kong-based Web3 data infrastructure start-up.

The $100 million crypto venture fund comes amid the drought of crypto funding related to the bear market and FTX collapse. According to data from Pitchbook, the value of global venture capital investments in crypto firms declined by 70.9% year-on-year, while the number of deals fell by 55%. This is in stark contrast to the bull market when crypto-based startups raised millions and the crypto ecosystem saw a new unicorn every other month.

Related: US ‘the only country’ crypto startups should avoid, says Ripple CEO

The crypto VC fund launch in Hong Kong also signifies the city’s growing prominence as a safe crypto harbor. Titan Fund managing director Yen Shiau Sin said that a crackdown on crypto in the U.S. means that Asian firms are beneficiaries, as “projects are thinking of coming here talking to us”.

Hong Kong announced a shift in its crypto policy in October last year, with the government making it clear they would focus on building regulation to encourage Web3. The regulators doubled down on the policy shift and formulated pro-crypto regulations making way for regulated crypto exchanges and even opening up services to retail customers.

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