Michael Arrington, a prominent crypto investor and founder of online portal TechCrunch, announced that his Arrington XRP Capital hedge fund secured an additional $30 million commitment in December 2018 from undisclosed existing partners.
Arrington’s $100 million startup has also acquired ByteSize Capital, an Australian research consortium and private crypto fund. ByteSize Capital’s founders Ninor Mansor and Ninos Mansor have joined Arrington XRP Capital as partners, alongside founding partners Heather Harde and Michael Arrington.
ByteSize Capital has taken a special interest in the Blockchain space over the years and has made investments into projects including Algorand, CertiK, and Arweave. As part of the merger, Arrington XRP Capital will onboard ByteSize’s proprietary investing suite.
In turn, Arrington has considerable experience with crypto-related investments. In November 2017, he launched the $100 million hedge fund denominated in Ripple’s XRP, which is described as “a digital asset management firm in blockchain-based capital markets.” Also, he has invested in various blockchain projects, including decentralized internet browser developer Blockstack.
However, in March 2018, the entrepreneur got caught in a large-scale investigation the SEC initiated with the aim to prevent illegal security sales and fraudulent activities in the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) ) market.
Crypto trading to balance VC investments
On being asked his view on ByteSize acquisition and venture capitalists entering the cryptocurrency space, Arrington told CoinDesk that the deal allows his firm to implement business strategies designed for the bear market’s uncertainty, which would involve crypto trading.
“Trading should improve the fund’s performance in both bear and bull markets, but Arrington emphasized that venture investing will remain a major emphasis for the fund,” he said.
Arrington added the ByteSize team not only possesses the necessary expertise to conduct trading but also proprietary market analysis tools that will come over with the acquisition.
“We didn’t have the DNA to do trading, but now we do with these guys,” Arrington concluded.
