{"id":130169,"date":"2025-05-28T13:16:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T13:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=130169"},"modified":"2025-05-28T13:16:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T13:16:05","slug":"former-chainlink-two-sigma-execs-build-moirai-to-uncover-crypto-gems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=130169","title":{"rendered":"Former Chainlink, Two Sigma execs build \u2018Moirai\u2019 to uncover crypto gems"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsMetalayer Ventures, a crypto-focused venture capital firm led by former executives from Chainlink and Two Sigma, has launched a $25 million fund to invest in early-stage blockchain projects with a focus on stablecoins, tokenization and cryptocurrency infrastructure.\u00a0
\nMetalayer\u2019s fund has already backed seven companies, the company disclosed to Cointelegraph on May 28. These include AnchorZero, a platform helping crypto founders use Roth IRAs for tax advantages, and Spark Capital, a new venture focused on stablecoin infrastructure.
\nOther portfolio companies include Ethena, ClearToken, Crossover Markets, Station70 and Theo \u2014 an onchain trading infrastructure project that recently raised $20 million from 17 different VC firms.
\nThe company plans to eventually back up to 30 companies with early-stage rounds ranging from $500,000 to $1 million.
\nMetalayer was co-founded by Chainlink Labs\u2019 former head of growth, Mickey Graham, and former Two Sigma executives Andy Kangpan and David Winton.
\nWinton developed a proprietary data platform called Moirai to help Metalayer analyze developer activity, protocol engagement and blockchain transaction patterns to uncover promising projects.\u00a0
\n\u201cMoirai is our internal sourcing engine for identifying early-stage crypto startups,\u201d Graham told Cointelegraph in a written statement. \u201cThe platform is designed to help us systematically surface high-quality startups, and it evaluates opportunities across several key dimensions,\u201d he said.
\nRelated: VC Roundup: 8-figure funding deals suggest crypto bull market far from over
\nCrypto VC deals on the rise, but there\u2019s a catch
\nCrypto venture capital activity saw a notable uptick in the first quarter, with increases in both total funding and deal volume, according to data from Galaxy Digital.\u00a0
\nVC funding reached $4.9 billion during the quarter, though nearly half came from a single deal \u2014 Binance, which raised $2 billion from MGX, an investment firm backed by a United Arab Emirates sovereign wealth fund.
\nDespite the outsized impact of the Binance deal, overall market activity showed signs of improving. A total of 446 crypto funding deals were recorded in Q1, marking a 7% increase from the previous quarter.
\nCrypto VC deals remain considerably lower than the peak of the previous bull market. Source: GalaxyNevertheless, venture capital investors remain cautious about making fresh commitments to the sector, according to Robert Lee, a senior analyst at PitchBook. The first quarter was a challenging market environment as a sharp correction in crypto prices compounded investor reluctance.
\nIn an interview with Bloomberg last month, Lee noted that many venture capital firms are still on the sidelines.\u00a0
\n\u201c[M]any of the funds from the last cycle have yet to deliver meaningful DPI,\u201d he said, referring to the private equity metric Distributed to Paid-In Capital, which measures how much capital has been returned to investors relative to what they invested.
\nMetalayer\u2019s Mickey Graham believes that at least some of this drop-off is due to a much-needed transition happening beneath the surface:
\n\u201cWe believe the crypto industry has crossed the chasm from an early market defined by infrastructure-building to a mainstream technology sector characterized by the deployment of blockchain technology throughout the global economy.\u201d
\nAlthough VC activity remains subdued compared to past bull cycles, Kadan Stadelmann, the chief technology officer of the Komodo Platform, told Cointelegraph that the industry has seen an \u201cuptick in mergers and acquisitions, suggesting market maturation.\u201d
\nStadelmann indicated that pro-crypto regulations in the United States and European Union, \u201chave given large institutions confidence to continue making investments into crypto firms.\u201d
\nAt a geographic level, the US accounted for more than a third of total crypto VC deals in 2024 \u2014 a trend expected to continue this year. Source: Galaxy DigitalMagazine: The secret of pitching to male VCs: Female crypto founders blast offRead More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsMetalayer Ventures, a crypto-focused venture capital firm led by former executives from Chainlink and Two Sigma, has launched a $25 million fund to invest in early-stage blockchain projects… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130169"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=130169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130169\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=130169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=130169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=130169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}