The “Titan Fund” has already made five investments in various blockchain startup companies, including two in Hong Kong-based initiatives.
CMCC Global, a Hong Kong-based venture capital firm focused on cryptocurrencies, has raised $100 million to support Asian blockchain businesses.
Titan Fund completed its initial funding round on October 4, with participation from 30 investors, including blockchain company Block.one, Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li’s Pacific Century Group, Winklevoss Capital, Jebsen Capital, and Animoca Brands founder Yat Siu, according to the South China Morning Post.
Titan Fund will prioritize investments in critical areas: blockchain infrastructure, consumer applications such as gaming and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), and financial services such as exchanges, wallets, and lending and borrowing platforms.
The CMCC Global crypto fund will be its fourth to offer equity investments to Hong Kong-focused blockchain businesses in their early stages.
The fund has already made five rounds of investments, including two in Hong Kong-based businesses.
The two Hong Kong startups include Mocaverse, an NFT project introduced in December 2022 by Hong Kong blockchain firm Animoca Brands that raised US$20 million in September.
Prior to that, in August, the Titan fund participated in the pre-seed funding round for Hong Kong Web3 data infrastructure startup Terminal 3.
The $100 million crypto venture fund is a response to the shortage of crypto financing caused by the bear market and FTX crash.
According to data from Pitchbook, the value of global venture capital investments in crypto companies has decreased by 70.9% year-over-year, while the number of transactions has decreased by 55.0%.
This contrasts dramatically with the bull market, when crypto-based startups regularly raised millions of dollars, and the crypto ecosystem produced a new unicorn every month.
The launch of crypto VC fund in Hong Kong demonstrates the city’s increased prominence as a crypto haven.
The managing director of Titan Fund, Yen Shiau Sin, stated that Asian firms stand to benefit from a crackdown on cryptocurrencies in the United States, as “projects are thinking of coming here talking to us.”
In October of last year, Hong Kong announced a shift in its crypto policy, with the government making it clear that it would focus on establishing regulations to promote Web3.
The regulators doubled down on the policy shift and formulated pro-crypto regulations, paving the way for regulated cryptocurrency exchanges and even allowing retail customers to access services.
