Cryptocurrency hedge fund Neural Capital has shut down after losing half of its money since it launched back in 2017, when most cryptocurrencies rose to their all-time highs.
According to CoinDesk, Neural Capital is now in the process of refunding investors’ money. The news outlet’s report cites three sources familiar with the matter, who claimed the fund’s cryptoassets were liquidated back in December and that some cash is still being held up in escrow, months longer than what was expected.
The fund was last year managing $13 million after drawing investment of $250,000 or more from over 40 investors, including Expa partner Hooman Radfar and Greylock partner Joshua Elman. It withdrew its registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC( in December and stopped submitting obligatory filings with the agency this year.
CoinDesk reports the fund’s managers, Arij Nazir and Christopher Keshian, were new to the hedge fund industry and were involved in more than one fund when they launched Neural Capital. While managing it, they were advisors to Protocol Ventures, an institutional investor in multiple crypto funds that included Neural Capital itself.
Both founders had a fall-out in mid-2018, which saw Nazir leave Neural Capital at the time. The cryptocurrency fund now joins a plethora of others that shut down this year, with most being launched during the cryptocurrency boom of 2017.
As CryptoGlobe reported, last month the first cryptocurrency hedge fund to receive a stamp of approval from the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Prime Factor Capital, shut down over “insufficient” demand from institutional investors.
Prime Factor Capital was founded by former BlackRock employees, and shut down despite having a 147% year-to-date at one point as the price of BTC continued to climb. Its CEO, Nic Niedermowwe, noted that “ the fund, despite having delivered an average monthly performance in excess of 4%, is being wound down due to insufficient demand from institutional investors.”
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