Paradigm unveils new $2.5B crypto fund

Crypto investment firm Paradigm has revealed a new $2.5-billion ”New Venture Fund” to expand its investment into cryptocurrency companies and protocols.

According to a Monday announcement, Paradigm co-founders Fred Ehrsam and Matt Huang stated that “the fund and its size are reflective of crypto being the most exciting frontier in technology.”

The Financial Times reported that the funding pool is now the largest among venture capital crypto funds, edging out Andreesen Horowitz’s (a16z) $2.2-billion raise in June of this year.

The announcement did not state which sectors within the cryptocurrency industry the New Venture Fund will be allocated to.

Paradigm has historically invested in crypto projects that utilize Web 3.0 to deploy their applications, with roughly 11 of the 40 companies and projects in its portfolio comprising decentralized finance protocols. Paradigm has also invested in crypto-native exchanges and borrowing and lending platforms. Some of the biggest names in its portfolio include Coinbase, FTX, Uniswap and Sky Mavis.

Despite Paradigm’s new fund claiming the title of crypto’s largest, Ehrsam tweeted that he and Huang are “just getting started.”

Just getting started https://t.co/V8fXb3hCTt— Fred Ehrsam (@FEhrsam) November 15, 2021

Ehrsam and Huang stated in the announcement that their mission to be “the earliest and most helpful partner to crypto entrepreneurs and communities” has not changed.

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Paradigm’s recent investments include Solana-based lending protocol Jet Protocol, and nonfungible token (NFT)-based battling game AI Arena. The firm has recently increased its exposure to NFT platforms, also investing in Royal and Fractional in August.