Polychain Capital
{{short description| American investment firm}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Polychain Capital LP
| logo = Polychain Capital.svg
| type = Private
| industry = Investment management
| predecessor =
| foundation = {{start date and age|2016}}{{cite magazine |title=Bitcoin Will Never Be a Currency—It's Something Way Weirder |url=https://www.wired.com/2017/01/bitcoin-will-never-currency-something-way-weirder/ |magazine=Wired}}{{cite web |last1=Chernova |first1=Yuliya |title=Polychain's Blockchain Hedge Fund Gets Backed by Andreessen, USV |url=https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/polychains-blockchain-hedge-fund-gets-backed-by-andreessen-usv-1481286602 |website=Wall Street Journal |date=December 9, 2016}}{{cite web |last1=Copeland |first1=Rob |title=Olaf Carlson-Wee Rode the Bitcoin Boom to Silicon Valley Riches. Can He Survive the Crash? |url=https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/olaf-carlson-wee-rode-the-bitcoin-boom-to-silicon-valley-riches-can-he-survive-the-crash-1536681364 |website=Wall Street Journal |date=September 11, 2018}}
| location = San Francisco, California, U.S.{{cite web |title=Form ADV |url=https://reports.adviserinfo.sec.gov/reports/ADV/285022/PDF/285022.pdf |website=SEC}}
| founder = Olaf Carlson-Wee
| products = Hedge Funds
Venture Capital
| aum = US$5 billion (2024)
| assets =
| homepage = {{official website|https://polychain.capital}}
}}
Polychain Capital (Polychain) is an American investment firm based in San Francisco, California. The firm focuses on investments related to cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
Background
Polychain Capital was founded in 2016 by Olaf Carlson-Wee.{{Cite web |last=Chernova |first=Yuliya |title=Polychain's Blockchain Hedge Fund Gets Backed by Andreessen, USV |url=http://www.wsj.com/articles/polychains-blockchain-hedge-fund-gets-backed-by-andreessen-usv-1481286602 |access-date=December 26, 2022 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |date=January 29, 2018 |title=Crypto Hedge Fund Polychain Says It Won't Proceed With IPO |newspaper=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-29/crypto-hedge-fund-polychain-said-to-plan-ipo-in-canada |access-date=May 15, 2021}} Prior to founding Polychain, Carlson-Wee was an employee of Coinbase where he was Head of Risk.
Investors of Polychain include Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Union Square Ventures and Founders Fund.{{Cite web |title=Has Crypto's Crown Prince Finally Grown Up? |url=https://fortune.com/2019/12/11/crypto-crown-prince-olaf-carlson-wee/ |access-date=May 15, 2021 |website=Fortune |language=en}}
In January 2018, the firm considered holding an initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange to raise $325 million but eventually decided not to proceed with it.
The firm claimed $1 billion assets at the start of 2018 but dropped to $591.5 million as of the end of 2018, majorly due to the drop in the value of its holdings.{{Cite news|last=Chernova|first=Yuliya|date=April 12, 2019|title=Crypto Fund Polychain's Assets Drop 40% From $1 Billion Mark|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/crypto-fund-polychains-assets-drop-40-from-1-billion-mark-11554843471|access-date=September 1, 2021|issn=0099-9660}}{{Cite web |date=July 1, 2018 |title=Polychain Becomes First $1 Billion Crypto Fund: What Happens Now? {{!}} Fortune |url=https://fortune.com/2018/06/26/polychain-capital-bitcoin/ |access-date=December 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701035625/https://fortune.com/2018/06/26/polychain-capital-bitcoin/ |archive-date=July 1, 2018 }}
In May 2024, Polychain made large payouts to Investors from two of its venture capital funds. {{Cite news |last=Weeks |first=Ryan |date=2024-05-10 |title=Crypto VC Firm Polychain Makes Payouts to Investors in Two Funds |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-10/crypto-vc-firm-polychain-makes-payouts-to-investors-in-two-funds |access-date=2025-01-14 |work=Bloomberg News |language=en}}
Companies that Polychain Capital has invested in include Coinbase, Kik Messenger{{Cite web|date=August 29, 2017|title=Kik raises $50 million ahead of token sale for its cryptocurrency Kin|url=https://venturebeat.com/2017/08/29/kik-raises-50-million-ahead-of-token-sale-for-its-cryptocurrency-kin/|access-date=September 1, 2021|website=VentureBeat|language=en-US}} and Tezos.{{Cite news|last=Vigna|first=Paul|date=February 1, 2018|title=Bitcoin Brawl: A New Twist In Tezos's $232 Million Coin Offering|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-hot-coin-offerings-investors-go-shopping-for-a-new-board-a-hot-coin-offerings-investors-go-shopping-for-a-new-board-1517490000|access-date=September 1, 2021|issn=0099-9660}}
See also
References
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{{Cryptocurrencies}}
{{Hedge funds}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Financial services companies established in 2016