Pivoting to focus exclusively on Bitcoin investments, Pantera Capital is the largest hedge fund by assets managed investing specifically in the digital currency. Unlike several other funds which buy bitcoins, and provide a regulated entity to own exposure to potential price appreciation of bitcoins, Pantera Capital is also involved in investing in related firms in the space. An example was their involvement in Circle’s $17 million Series B funding round in March which Pantera participated in.
Led by CEO Dan Morehead, and backed by Benchmark Capital, Fortress Investment Group, and Ribbit Capital, Pantera Capital also includes within its early bitcoin entrepreneur Jed McCaleb, who created MtGox before selling it in 2011, as well as most recently being involved with Ripple Labs.
Providing more information about their initiatives, Pantera has filed a Form D for its latest sale of equity in its Pantera Bitcoin Master Fund. According to the filing dated June 4th, the Pantera sold $96,042,177 in equity to investors for the pooled investment fund product. Like other hedge funds, the Bitcoin Master Fund holds a $100,000 minimum to invest, with the Form D reporting that the fund currently is composed of 45 investors. While the numbers average to greater than $2 million per investor, it is worth noting that Benchmark, Fortress, and Ribbit are expected to have contributed the bulk of the total holdings in the funds.
