(Bloomberg) — The family office of U.S. hedge fund veteran Jim Pallotta is expanding its bets on decentralized finance as private investment firms for the ultra-wealthy boost investments in digital assets.
Pallotta’s Raptor Group is a major backer of a second fund being raised by a namesake venture firm that’s focused on new technologies including blockchain, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Raptor Digital is looking to gather $200 million from family offices and institutional firms for the fund that’s due to launch in coming weeks after returning capital to existing investors from its debut vehicle, the person said, asking not to be identified as the details are private.
Pallotta, 67, a former executive at Paul Tudor Jones’ hedge fund, invested in Raptor Digital’s first $60 million fund that closed in 2023, which also received capital from a unit of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala.
A representative for Boston-based Raptor Digital – which was formerly known as RW3 Ventures and also focuses on artificial intelligence investments – declined to comment.
Pallotta joins other U.S. finance veterans and European dynasties recently boosting investments tied to decentralized finance as the field shows signs of maturing after years of volatility.
Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller’s family office indicated an interest in buying as much as $50 million of shares in blockchain-based credit company Figure Technology Solutions Inc.’s initial offering last month. Meanwhile, Alta Advisers, a London-based firm helping manage the fortune of Sweden’s Rausing dynasty, disclosed allocations this year to crypto-linked stocks Coinbase Global Inc. and Microstrategy Inc., filings show.
A recent Goldman Sachs Group Inc. survey of 245 global family offices found about a third were invested in cryptocurrencies, more than double the total from 2021. Funding has also surged this year for companies active in the Web3 ecosystem, an internet built on blockchains and crypto.
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Pallotta’s family office partnered with two former executives at crypto infrastructure firm Bitgo Inc. – Pete Najarian and Joe Bruzzesi – to launch Raptor Digital under its previous name in 2021. The company’s portfolio includes more than three dozen companies, including AI chip developer Cornami and digital asset recovery firm CAT Labs, according to its website.
Before founding his family office, Pallotta oversaw a $12 billion portfolio at Tudor Investment Corp., where he was vice chairman. He also helped the New York-based firm make private equity bets before leaving in 2008. Pallotta is the former co-owner of the National Basketball Association’s Boston Celtics and onetime president of Italian football club AS Roma,
