Bankrupt Hedge Fund 3AC's Return as a VC Stirring Up Crypto Community

3AC co-founder Kyle Davies told CoinDesk that the new entity aims to provide support for projects that are building for a decentralized future, but skeptics have recalled the original firm’s tainted past.

AccessTimeIconJun 21, 2023 at 7:02 p.m. UTC
Updated Jun 21, 2023 at 7:26 p.m. UTC
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Three Arrows Capital (3AC)is stirring up the crypto community again, this time with a surprise comeback using the same name, only in the guise of a venture capital (VC) firm.

On Wednesday OPNX, the bankruptcy claims exchange co-founded by CoinFLEX executives and two people behind the defunct hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), announced that they have a new partner: 3AC Ventures. The partners will “invest in projects building in the OPNX ecosystem and working toward a decentralized future,” OPNX tweeted.

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  • 3AC Ventures even has a website that says the new firm "is focused on superior risk-adjusted returns without leverage.” The hedge fund 3AC collapsed last year after suffering heavy losses during the implosion of Terra’s LUNA stablecoin.

    OPNX, the new exchange where users can trade debt claims on bankrupt companies like FTX and Voyager, went live in April and counts 3AC veterans Kyle Davies and Su Zhu among its founders. Even during the fundraising round, the exchange – then named GTX – faced scrutiny by the crypto community. Large players like Wintermute distanced itself from GTX immediately.

    The exchange also stumbled during its rollout that initially saw low volume. Volume on the exchange has since risen, although a large portion of the crypto community has remained skeptical of the exchange and its backers.

    So when it announced the partnership with freshly minted 3AC Ventures, the crypto community weighed in again doubtfully. Twitter influencer LilMoonLambo summed up the vibe, tweeting, “holy shit this is a real tweet.”

    Even Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, got involved in the Twitter discourse. He retweeted Davies’ 3AC Ventures announcement, asking, “Why did 3AC die, please enlighten us?”

    Su Zhu previously obtained a restraining order against Hayes from a Singapore court.

    However, the skeptics haven’t deterred Davies from promoting the new VC firm’s goal.

    "3AC Ventures aims to provide support for projects that are building for a decentralized future. We are keen to collaborate with those brave enough to tackle the most significant challenges and create cutting-edge products,” Davies told CoinDesk.

    The token for the OPNX exchange, OX, rose over 12% in the last 24 hours, while the overall crypto market also rallied as bitcoin traded above $30,000 on Wednesday.

    Oliver Knight contributed to the reporting of this story

    Edited by Aoyon Ashraf and James Rubin.

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    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

    Brandy Betz

    Brandy covered crypto-related venture capital deals for CoinDesk.

    Oliver Knight

    Oliver Knight is a CoinDesk reporter based between London and Lisbon. He does not own any crypto.


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