Hong Kong-based venture capital firm, CMCC Global, has successfully raised $100million for its new fund aimed at financing blockchain start-ups across Asia, as confirmed by a recent South China Morning Post report.
Among the fund’s notable backers are Winklevoss Capital, Yat Siu of Animoca Brands, Block.one, Pacific Century Group led by Richard Li, and Jebsen Capital.
Titled ‘Titan Fund’, it is targeting its investments towards blockchain infrastructure, consumer applications, and cryptocurrency financial services.
This new fund comes as Hong Kong sees a boost in crypto activity. A new Chainalysis report found the region had $64billion worth of crypto transactions in the past year.
Titan Fund details
Titan Fund is the fourth under CMCC Global’s umbrella and will primarily target equity investments in early-stage blockchain ventures.
A significant portion of this investment will be directed towards Hong Kong-based start-ups, revealed Martin Baumann, the firm’s co-founder.
The fund has already invested in five different start-ups, two of which are Hong Kong-based. It contributed to Mocaverse’s fundraising, a Hong Kong NFT initiative by Animoca Brands, which gathered $20m last September.
Titan Fund also participated in the pre-seed funding round for Terminal 3, a Web3 data infrastructure startup also located in the region.
However, CMCC Global’s latest fund won’t exclusively allocate its capital to Hong Kong businesses. According to Baumann, the goal remains to invest in high-potential entrepreneurs on a global scale.
Given CMCC Global’s inception in Hong Kong in 2016, Baumann said the firm naturally has a strong inclination towards the city and its fintech prospects.
Hong Kong’s pro-crypto environment
Commenting on Hong Kong’s trajectory in the Web3 domain, Baumann told the South China Morning Post: “If Hong Kong continues on its route of embracing web3, there will naturally be more and more entrepreneurs starting companies in that space.”
The launch of Titan fund follows Hong Kong appearing to make strides in the cryptocurrency sector.
Historically known to house crypto giants like BitMEX and now defunct Alameda Research, recent developments suggest a renewed commitment to the crypto space.
There are ongoing discussions about collaborations between Hong Kong and China to bolster the city’s reputation as a hub for crypto initiatives.
This August, Hong Kong granted licenses to HashKey Exchange and OSL, enabling them to extend crypto trading services to the public.
Chainalysis’ new findings on Hong Kong’s crypto landscape
A report from Chainalysis published this week has highlighted East Asia falling behind in the crypto markets.
East Asia’s share in global crypto transactions was recorded at 8.8% from July 2022 to June 2023, positioning it as the fifth most active crypto market. The region’s crypto transaction values witnessed a dip from around 30% in 2019 to below 10% by the second quarter of 2022, following a series of bans in China.
However, recent activity in Hong Kong could change this. Chainalysis data showcases the region’s impressive transaction volume.
Between July 2022 and June 2023, Hong Kong recorded approximately $64bn in crypto transactions, closely following China’s $86.4bn, despite the vast population difference.
