ADVERTISEMENT

Coinbase, SoftBank, Valor Capital Fund Brazilian Crypto Firm

Coinbase and SoftBank Help Fund  Brazilian Crypto Firm 

A Brazilian money management firm focused on cryptocurrencies said it raised about $26 million of new funding from investors including SoftBank Group Corp. and Coinbase Global Inc.

Hashdex Gestora de Recursos Ltda said a bulk of the funds came from venture capital firm Valor Capital Group, with SoftBank and Coinbase Ventures, an arm of the U.S.’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, also participating. Others included Brazil’s Igah Ventures, Globo Ventures and Canary.

Hashdex, founded in 2018 by former Microsoft Corp. executive Marcelo Sampaio and Bruno Caratori, earlier this year launched Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index Fundo de Indice, the first crypto exchange-traded fund in Brazil’s local exchange. The firm is based in Rio de Janeiro and has about 4 billion reais under management.

“Investors are still getting to know crypto and we see room to offer more products in Brazil,” Sampaio, the chief executive officer at Hashdex, said in an interview.

Total market value of all cryptocurrencies has passed $2.4 trillion, up from less than $1 trillion at the beginning of the year, according to CoinMarketCap.com.

Hashdex plans on opening new offices outside Brazil, with headcount expected to rise from 25 to as much as 100 by the end of the year, Sampaio said.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.