Mark Cuban is backing a new cryptocurrency fund months after calling bitcoin a 'bubble'
The tech billionaire and Shark Tank star is an early backer of a new cryptocurrency fund, according to reporting by CoinDesk, the blockchain and cryptocurrency news provider.
The so-called 1confirmation fund, launched Tuesday and founded by Nick Tomaino, a principal at Runa Capital, a $270 million Palo Alto-based investor, plans to invest "exclusively" in cryptocurrency assets, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Tomaino is looking to raise $20 million.
"I think Nick is one of the sharpest minds in the space, and I'm a big believer that there will be transformational apps built on blockchain," Cuban told CoinDesk.
Cuban's backing of Tomaino's fund follows a tweet by the billionaire last week saying he was jumping on the bitcoin bandwagon.
Cuban's new found financial interest in the digital currency world is an about-face for the billionaire, who just two months called the cryptocurrency universe a bubble. Cuban took to Twitter in early June, soon after bitcoin hit what was then a near record high of $2,900 a coin, to warn about a coming correction in bitcoin. Here's Cuban:
Cuban then turned his focus to the cryptocurrency space as a whole:
Cuban's change of heart represents a pivot happening across Wall Street. Financial firms and institutional investors are waking up to the profit potential in cryptocurrencies as bitcoin and Ethereum reach new heights.The two blockchain-based digital currencies are up over 350% and 2,000%, respectively, since the beginning of the year.
For instance, VanEck, the New York-based money manager with $24.7 billion in assets, is seeking to launch a bitcoin ETF, according to an August 11 preliminary filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, Goldman Sachs is now telling clients that the cryptocurrency space is worth paying attention to.
In a recent note to portfolio managers, Goldman analyst D. Boroujerdi and his team wrote:
With the total value nearly $120 billion, it's getting harder for institutional investors to ignore cryptocurrencies. Whether or not you believe in the merit of investing in cryptocurrencies (you know who you are) real dollars are at work here and warrant watching especially in light of the growing world of initial coin offerings (ICOs) and fundraising that now exceeds Internet Angel and Seed investing.
Initial coin offering, a fundraising method powered by Ethereum blockchain, has raised over $1.8 billion since the beginning of the year, according to Autonomous NEXT, a fintech analytics firm.
According to CoinDesk, 1coinfirmation "will make initial investments in the $100,000 to $500,000 range in legal vehicles designed to help investors pre-purchase tokens or equity prior to an ICO."