Crypto Investor HashKey Capital Raises $500 Million for Web3 Fund

Crypto-focused asset manager HashKey Capital has raised another $500 million for investments in the Web3 ecosystem. 

“Web3” describes an emerging set of blockchain-based technologies that are ushering in a new, decentralized era of the internet, including crypto, DeFi, and NFTs.

HashKey’s fund, “FinTech Investment Fund III” (Fund III), received commitments from a range of institutional investors, “including sovereign wealth funds, corporations, and family offices,” per an announcement from HashKey on Tuesday. 

“Fund III will follow our time-tested investment principles while also looking for game-changers, which would be those that will propel the industry forward into the next stage,” HashKey Group Chairman Dr. Xiao Feng said in the announcement.

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The raised capital will be deployed towards blockchain infrastructure, applications, and tools that have the potential for mass adoption, with a focus on opportunities in emerging markets. The firm said it will provide investors with “institutional-grade exposure” to all facets of the crypto industry.

“The HashKey Group was an early supporter of crypto and blockchain technology, and we are pleased to continue to take on this responsibility and work with our partners to establish the gold standard for the industry's sustainable growth,” said HaskKey Capital CEO Deng Chao in a statement. 

HashKey Group served as the inspiration behind the name of Ethereum’s upcoming “Shanghai upgrade,” which is scheduled to enable Ethereum stakers to withdraw their assets from the network’s staking contract by March. An Ethereum DevCon was held in Shanghai in 2017 and sponsored by Wanxiang Labs—a strategic partner of HashKey Group. 

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Ethereum core developers say they are chugging steadily towards their goal of launching Shanghai and enabling staked ETH withdrawals on the network by March. This week, the group launched “devnet 2,” a developer network designed specifically to allow client teams to tweak the ETH withdrawal process and make sure they get it right. The network launch went mostly smoothly, with minor but expected hiccups, according to a developer call Thursday.  ETH withdrawal capability will launch as the central...

The Hong Kong-based digital asset firm was Ethereum’s earliest corporate investor and has contributed to various other popular groups including Cosmos, Coinlist, dYdX, Animoca Brands, Polkadot, and others. (Disclosure: HashKey Capital is one of 22 strategic investors in Decrypt.)

HashKey has managed over $1 billion in client assets since launching in 2018. 

Fund III emerges at a time of great distress for the crypto market and industry when macroeconomic headwinds have pushed leaders like Coinbase to enact multiple major job cuts. Chao said that HashKey has weathered three such cycles already, and has the insight necessary to navigate such turbulent waters.