BlockTower Capital
| BlockTower Capital | |
| |
| Founded | 2017 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Stamford, Connecticut |
| Key People | Matthew Goetz and Ari Paul, co-founders |
| Employees | 15 |
| Products | Digital currency investment funds |
| @BlockTower | |
| Profile | |
| Website | BlockTower Home |
BlockTower Capital was formed by a Goldman Sachs alumnus, Matthew Goetz, and a former University of Chicago endowments risk manager, Ari Paul, to invest in digital currencies. The company launched in August 2017 and raised $140 million, including venture capital investments from Union Square Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.[1]
In September 2018, Bloomberg reported that not only was BlockTower weathering the decline in cryptocurrency prices but that the company had expanded its number of employees and opened a second office in New York City.[2]
In March 2021, Bloomberg reported that Marc Lasry - billionaire hedge fund manager and owner of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team - and J. Christopher Giancarlo, former chairman of the CFTC - invested undisclosed amounts of money in BlockTower Capital.[3][4]
Million Dollar Bet
In mid December 2017, 275 bitcoin calls were bought on LedgerX, a swaps execution facility (SEF). The calls had a strike price of $50,000 and were to expire more than a year later, at the end of December 2018. This transaction was effectively a bet that bitcoin would more than triple in a year, since the price of bitcoin was then about $16,500. The total price paid for the 275 calls was just under $1 million.[5]
A few days later the identity of the option buyer emerged: BlockTower Capital.[6]
References
- ↑ Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund BlockTower Raises $140 Million. Bloomberg.
- ↑ Goldman Sachs Alum's Crypto Fund Expands Even as Markets Tumble. Bloomberg.
- ↑ Marc Lasry, Chris Giancarlo Invest in Crypto Firm BlockTower. Bloomberg.
- ↑ Billionaire Lasry, Ex-CFTC Head Giancarlo Invest in Crypto Firm BlockTower. Coindesk.
- ↑ A Million-Dollar Bet That Bitcoin Will Hit $50,000. Wall Street Journal.
- ↑ We now know who was behind the $1 million bet that bitcoin will soar to $50,000. Business Insider.
