Goldman Sachs Alum’s BlockTower Crypto Fund Expands Despite Market Instability

BlockTower Capital, co-founded by a former Goldman Sachs executive, expanded its staff and opened a new office despite recent market blues.

BlockTower Capital 

Cryptocurrency investment firm BlockTower Capital, co-founded last year by former Goldman Sachs executive Matthew Goetz, has opened a second office and hired new staff this year despite the ongoing slump in the crypto markets, according to Bloomberg. The new office, based in New York, employs five people in addition to the eight already employed at the company headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. 

BlockTower’s latest additions include Eric Friedman, hired from Expa to lead the new venture strategy, Corey Miller from Scout Ventures, Siyu Dai, a quantitative trader and algorithm developer at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Steve Lee, formerly a trader at Goldman Sachs. Earlier this year, they managed to hire multiple assets from Goldman Sachs: Vice President Michael Bucella became Head of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development, Vice President Elizabeth Ralston was hired as the Legal Director, portfolio manager Steve Lee was hired as a Director. 

Crypto Funds Keep Growing

The fact that crypto markets have suffered a monumental slump since the beginning of the year has apparently not hampered the growth and spirit of new crypto hedge funds. While 2017 broke previous records for new crypto investment funds with a total of 156 launches, 2018 is projected to surpass even that count and reach around 165 launches by the end of the year. 2018 crypto fund launches have originated in around 30 countries all over the world - including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Turkey. It seems investment bankers are fleeing Wall Street and jumping into the crypto sector, which is clearly seen as potentially lucrative with high disruptive potential. This is best illustrated by Coinbase poaching several ex-New York Stock Exchange employees. 

While public sentiment about cryptos remains skeptical in the long-term bear market, many leaders in the crypto space have come out recently to claim that a reversal in the fortune and price of Bitcoin is imminent. The movement of high-level executives and traders from institutional giants into crypto firms suggests that those with behind the scenes knowledge of the nascent industry are looking at it optimistically.

Are Crypto Funds Essential?

The growing predominance of crypto funds is essential as an alternative to the wide range of crypto derivatives such as futures and ETFs that are being pushed by institutional investors. Many hold the introduction last year of Bitcoin futures partly responsible for the downfall of the cryptocurrency since it coincided with the start of the slump. The constant market manipulation which has plagued Bitcoin’s price since then has stirred a new wave of anti-institutional sentiment.

Crypto investment firms offer a more sustainable and less manipulatable way to bring money to the cryptosphere. Unlike firms selling futures, Crypto funds invest in promising crypto startups and even buy cryptos and tokens directly, thereby improving liquidity in the market and reducing the volatile nature of crypto prices. Crypto funds are viewed as a slightly safer route into crypto investing than the direct purchase of tokens. According to the Eurekahedge Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund Index, crypto funds are down 52% over the course of Bitcoin’s 54% decrease in 2018.