Hong Kong-based venture capital firm CMCC Global, specializing in cryptocurrency investments, has successfully secured $100 million in funding for its newly established Titan Fund. This crypto-focused fund aims to support innovative blockchain startups across Asia. With backing from 30 investors, including prominent names like Block.one, Richard Li’s Pacific Century Group, Winklevoss Capital, Jebsen Capital, and Animoca Brands founder Yat Siu, the Titan Fund is set to concentrate its investments in vital areas such as blockchain infrastructure, consumer applications (like gaming and NFTs), and financial services encompassing exchanges, wallets, and lending and borrowing platforms.

CMCC Global’s Titan Fund is its fourth venture offering equity investments to early-stage blockchain startups, with a particular focus on those in Hong Kong. The fund has already completed five investment rounds, with two going to Hong Kong-based projects. Notable among these is Mocaverse, an NFT project initiated by Animoca Brands in December 2022, which raised $20 million in September. The second Hong Kong-based recipient is Terminal 3, a Web3 data infrastructure startup.

This $100 million crypto venture fund emerges amidst a slowdown in crypto funding, coinciding with the bear market and the FTX collapse. Pitchbook data reveals a 70.9% year-on-year decrease in global venture capital investments in crypto firms, along with a 55% reduction in the number of deals. This contrasts starkly with the crypto bull market when startups were securing billions in funding, and new unicorns were emerging regularly.

The launch of this crypto VC fund in Hong Kong underscores the city’s growing significance as a crypto-friendly hub. Titan Fund’s managing director, Yen Shiau Sin, highlighted that a crypto crackdown in the United States is prompting Asian projects to explore opportunities in the region. Hong Kong’s pivot towards a more crypto-friendly policy in October 2022, focusing on fostering Web3 development and formulating pro-crypto regulations, has further bolstered its status as a safe harbor for cryptocurrency ventures.