Brazilian money management firm focused on cryptocurrencies, Hashdex, has raised $26 million in funding.
Prominent investors included SoftBank Group Corp. and Coinbase Ventures, an arm of the U.S.’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange. However, a majority of the funds came from venture capital firm Valor Capital Group. Other investors included Brazil’s Igah Ventures, Globo Ventures, and Canary.
Hashdex history
Founded in 2018 by former Microsoft Corp. executive Marcelo Sampaio and Bruno Caratori, Hashdex is based in Rio de Janeiro. Currently, the firm has around 4 billion reais (roughly $763 million) under management. Headcount will reportedly rise from 25 to 100 by the end of the year, bolstered by plans for opening of new offices outside Brazil.
“Investors are still getting to know crypto and we see room to offer more products in Brazil,” said CEO Sampaio.
Just last month, Hashdex launched its Nasdaq Crypto Index Fund. The ETF debuted on April 26, on Brazil’s B3 exchange under the ticker symbol HASH11, with 615 million reais. The initial offering was led by Genial, with BTG, Itaú, and Banco do Brasil.
The ETF tracks the Nasdaq Crypto Index (NCI), co-developed with Nasdaq, to represent the institutionally investable crypto asset market.
When it launched, Sampaio highlighted the exposure the ETF would offer to investors in Brazil. “The arrival of HASH11 at B3 brings more comfort and security to the investor, who will have access to a basket of assets with periodic rebalancing and which follows the international safety parameters in this sector,” explained Sampaio.
Crypto developments in Brazil
However, Hashdex’s crypto-based ETF was not the first available in Brazil. That distinction went to the Bitcoin ETF launched by QR Capital on the Sao Paulo exchange in March. The primary offering was for $500 million. While only immediately available to qualified investors, retail investors will be able to access it in June.
Meanwhile, Bitso, which services customers in Brazil, recently became the first crypto unicorn in Latin America. After raising $250 million during its Series C investment round, the company valuation rose to $2.2 billion.
Additionally, Moeda Seeds, which uses blockchain technology to serve “the unbanked and under-banking population in Brazil,” was recently accepted into Mastercard’s incubator program.
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