Yale University Invests in $400 Million Crypto Fund

Yale University, a United States Ivy league university is reportedly part of a group that is helping to raise $400 million for a huge cryptocurrency fund project, making it one of the largest of such investment funds.

According to multiple sources, the university is taking a shot at cryptocurrency via the fund named ‘Paradigm’, founded by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam, Charles Noyes of Pantera capital and former Sequoia Capital partner Matt Huang.

An interesting part of Yale’s involvement in this fund is the fact that the university which boasts of a $30 billion endowment- the second largest among U.S. educational institutions, has set aside a huge 60% of its total investment capital in 2019 for ‘alternative projects’ which include venture capital, hedge funds, leverage buyouts and of course the to be added cryptocurrency fund which will attract involvement in other blockchain projects and ICOs.

Earlier in the year, Chief Investment Officer at Yale University; David Swenson remarked that the university does not intend to be a ‘fair-weather investor’. In his words,

We have an all weather fund. We plan to invest consistently over time, regardless of market conditions. If there is another ‘crypto winter’ we’ll keep investing aggressively.

His statement was made with respect to suggestions that due to the wipe out of crypto gains of the past year, investors will likely stick to only favourable scenarios.

From expert opinion, the fund is considered to be one of the next big things in the crypto space as many enthusiasts have continued to wait on a Bitcoin ETF to usher the flow of more institutional capital into the crypto market; given the unavailability of a clear regulatory framework to guard investor inputs in the digital assets sector. This involvement by one of the world’s largest universities is a pointer and confidence booster that the much heralded institutional investors’ involvement in the crypto sector is on the horizon and the fear of reputational risk is being shredded.

The above assertions are summed up by billionaire macro trader, Mike Novogratz who quipped “The herd is coming” as he argues that institutional investors are not far from making significant entry into the crypto market; just as he also believes that the current bear market sustained by the retail enthusiasts will give way for the next bull run fueled by institutions.