🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

New crypto funds are targeting bank-like services for tech companies underserved by traditional lenders

• Some crypto venture firms are moving past broad investing to back financial services for tech and crypto companies 1.
• Erebor Bank is a proposed bank with conditional approval for a US national bank charter, meaning a federal license to operate as a bank. It says it wants to serve tech businesses left without a clear banking partner after Silicon Valley Bank, including companies in AI, crypto, defense and manufacturing 1.
• Palmer Luckey, founder of defense technology company Anduril, launched the effort. Joe Lonsdale, Palantir co-founder, is an investor, and Peter Thiel has also been widely reported to back it 1.
• Its charter application says Erebor plans to serve technology businesses in AI, crypto, defense and manufacturing, plus employees and investors tied to those companies 1.
• A funding round valued Erebor at about US$4.35 billion, a sign of investor interest in regulated financial companies built to connect traditional finance with newer technology 2.

Institutional capital is forcing crypto venture funds to mature

• Haun’s US$1 billion raise tracks the wider shift of crypto investing toward institutional money. In New York City, one analysis puts financial technology at 35% of venture deal volume 3.
• Money from pensions and endowments can steer crypto fund managers toward approaches that fit institutional investors better than liquid-token trading 3.
• Tighter rules, including New York’s BitLicense regime, a state license required for certain crypto business activity, can favor firms with strong compliance teams and larger balance sheets 3.
• That shift has drawn more interest to regulated businesses with staying power, narrowing the gap between a crypto fund and a tech fund that treats blockchain as core infrastructure 4.