Ben Bartenstein
Bill Qian, who oversaw venture capital investments and acquisitions at Binance Holdings Ltd., is seeking more than $100 million for a crypto VC fund.
Qian, who left Binance last June to become chairman of Dubai-based Cypher Capital, plans to invest in startups focused on web3, the loosely defined next iteration of the internet that proponents say will be more decentralized and reliant on blockchain technology.
The market mayhem that took down crypto firms from Celsius Network to FTX last year has sapped funding for young companies, with VC investment falling to the lowest in almost two years in the fourth quarter. As a result, many new projects have found themselves starved for cash and unable to expand.
One of the crypto industry’s biggest challenges is that the user base isn’t growing dramatically, according to Qian. He said that’s because the main use case for many is still trading or gambling. Cypher is prioritizing projects that will bring more of the roughly 5 billion internet and social media users into the web3 world, he said.
Qian, a former executive at Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc., said he plans to approach Asian technology tycoons for money, without naming them. He declined to disclose whether the fund has received any commitments, but said this year’s rebound in digital assets, which has seen Bitcoin advance about 50%, has made fundraising easier.
“The macro backdrop for us is way better now than my expectations half a year ago,” he said in an interview. Even so, “money is not cheap anymore,” he added.
Dubai — along with the wider United Arab Emirates — is becoming a for crypto as jurisdictions including the US clamp down on the industry following last year’s scandals, which culminated with the swift fall of FTX and the prosecution of founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
Crypto founders like BINANCE Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao and Polygon’s Sandeep Nailwal have moved to Dubai, which published a final framework for rules governing crypto this month.
US Crypto Crackdown Boosts Appeal of Friendlier Overseas Hubs
Cypher Capital has 10 employees and recently brought on Elaine Liu, a Tencent veteran, to support expansion in the UAE. In November, the firm set up an office space for crypto and blockchain startups in the Dubai Marina, part of its efforts to source future deals.
