BitMEX co-founder and Bitcoin luminary Arthur Hayes is reportedly preparing to make a high-profile return to the sector.
Bloomberg reports that his family office, Maelstrom, is aiming to raise at least $250 million for its first private equity fund, Maelstrom Equity Fund I, and is looking to acquire four to six mid-sized crypto companies.
Each investment is expected to range from $40 million to $75 million and will focus on companies that provide trading infrastructure, data analytics, and other technology services to the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Arthur Hayes is known for creating perpetual swaps and developing BitMEX, which transformed the cryptocurrency trading platform. He became the youngest African-American cryptocurrency billionaire and was pardoned by President Trump after BitMEX’s anti-money laundering failures.
“$BTC on sale,” Hayes posted on X today. “If this US local banking turmoil escalates into a crisis, prepare for a bailout like the one in 2023. And shop assuming you have the cash.”
Arthur Hayes Fund Details
The new fund is a bit of a linchpin for Maelstrom. While the company’s previous venture investments focused on tokens, the new vehicle will focus solely on stocks.
“You can’t artificially inflate the value of tokens that aren’t being used in the off-chain world,” said Akshat Vaidya, co-founder and managing partner of Maelstrom.
The fund will target cash-generating off-chain companies to acquire companies with clearer valuations and sustainable growth potential.
Bloomberg reports that Maelstrom plans to structure each acquisition through a special purpose vehicle (SPV), with the fund as the lead investor.
After acquisition, these companies undergo operational improvements such as upgrading management teams and accelerating growth, and then are sold to large investors within four to five years.
According to Vaidya, this strategy is attractive to investors who want exposure to the high-growth, high-cash-flow crypto sector, but lack the in-house expertise to directly manage such investments.
Hayes’ reemergence comes amid a broader slowdown in private equity activity in the crypto space. Trading in the sector has been in sharp decline since 2022 following the collapse of Sam Bankman Fried’s FTX.
The Maelstrom fund will be registered in the US and will attract a variety of backers, including crypto investors, family offices, pension funds and other institutional investors.
Vaidya said the fund aims to complete its first round of funding by March 31, 2026 and complete funding by September 2026. Hayes will lead the effort alongside Vaidya and newly hired partner Adam Schlegel, with plans to expand the team as the fund grows, according to Bloomberg.
A series of high-profile acquisitions this year, including Coinbase’s $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit and Ripple’s $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, have revealed a newfound investor confidence in the digital asset space.
Source: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/arthur-hayes-preparing-equity-fund
