Dao5 Closes $222 Million Funding Round to Shape Institutional Interest in Crypto

Investment firm dao5 has raised $222 million to close out its second fund, with an aim to nurture institutional interest in cryptocurrencies. The multi-strategy investment vehicle brings dao5's total assets under management to roughly $550 million, according to the firm's announcement on Thursday. “Crypto is entering its adolescence phase,” dao5 founder and general partner Tekin Salimi said Thursday in a statement. “The industry’s dependency on pure speculation as the driver of growth is no longer as effective as it once was. The fund will target stablecoin networks, “‘state-sovereign artificial intelligence and public onchain infrastructure, the company said. Dao5’s completion of asecond fund comes as institutional investors flock to digital assets following a crypto market frenzy spurred by the approval last year of spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs and U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration in January. In his first 100 days as the U.S.’ so-called crypto president, Trump has ratcheted back regulatory oversight of crypto companies, called for the U.S. Treasury to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve and issued orders to protect the rights of token miners and guide crypto-friendly policy making. Those directives have fueled investments into cryptocurrencies as well as centralized exchanges and blockchain technology firms, despite the digital assets market's recent seesawing between gains and losses amid a bout of global geopolitical uncertainties. Meanwhile, a growing spate of public companies such as Rumble, Leef Brands, and Janover have also added—or pledged to add—Bitcoin, Solana or other cryptocurrencies to their corporate treasuries. dao5 continues to prepare for the transition of the dao5 fund into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Salimi expects the first steps towards decentralization to be announced later this year. To support the firm’s growing ambitions, dao5 has appointed seasoned crypto investor George Lambeth as General Partner. Lambeth's early-stage investment credits include Avalanche and Arbitrum. “Future success will be determined by the real integration of blockchain technology into global financial, governmental, and private sector systems,” said Salimi, a former partner at crypto-focused venture firm, Polychain Capital. Founded in 2022, dao5 has invested in more than 50 companies, including Bittensor, Story Protocol, and EigenLayer. The company fully deployed capital from its debut fund worth $125 million, returning the “vast majority” of commitments to its limited partners, it said in its statement. Edited by James Rubin