Crypto VC 1confirmation Raises $125M for Third Fund

Crypto venture capital firm 1confirmation has raised $125 million for its latest fund investing in cryptocurrency startups and digital assets.

Led by early Coinbase product manager Nick Tomaino, the fund, 1confirmation’s third, will follow the $800 million asset manager’s thesis of betting on projects with long-term disruptive potential.

“Our beliefs about the future have remained consistent since our initial launch four years ago,” Tomaino wrote in a blog post shared early with CoinDesk. Those beliefs: that crypto will empower individuals over institutions, that it has revolutionized online monetization and that social media platforms will create a wave of decentralized entrepreneurial communities.

One thing that has changed in four years is the sheer size of the fund’s launch capital. 

1confirmation’s first vehicle, the seed-heavy Fund I, raised $26 million in 2017. Two years later the VC secured $45 million for a follow-up. Both are dwarfed by $125 million Fund III.

It's been a good time to raise capital for crypto-focused venture firms. Multicoin Capital announced a $100 million fund earlier this month. VC giant Andreessen Horowitz is reportedly in the process of amassing at least $800 million for its latest crypto fund.

1confirmation’s portfolio includes NFT platforms OpenSea and SuperRare, decentralized exchanges dYdX and Primitive and DeFi lending platform Notional, among others. The VC has also invested in crypto protocols including Polkadot, Cosmos and Acala.

Tomaino declined to reveal Fund III’s backers. Previous limited partners have included Mark Cuban, Marc Andreessen, Balaji Srinivasan and Brendan Eich.

The firm’s Richard Chen has been promoted to general partner, according to the blog post.

Correction (May 27, 18:50 UTC): 1confirmation invested in NFT platform SuperRare, not Rarible.