NYDIG Raises $720M for Institutional Bitcoin Fund

NYDIG saw a “flight to quality” from institutional types last quarter, doubling its bitcoin balances year-on-year while shopping its new fund

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • NYDIG has appointed its global head of trading, Tejas Shah, as its new CEO
  • The bitcoin-forward financial services firm raised $1 billion in December at a $7 billion valuation

Despite bearish macro trends, investment management firm NYDIG says it has raised nearly $720 million for its Institutional Bitcoin Fund.

A total of 59 investors contributed to the raise, a SEC filing from Sept. 29 showed, although the regulator may not have reviewed the document, which could mean the raise isn’t over just yet.

In December, the bitcoin-focused financial services firm completed a $1 billion financing round led by WestCap. Other participants included Morgan Stanley, Bessemer Venture Partners and MassMutual.

NYDIG has withstood multiple SEC rejections against its proposal to list and trade spot bitcoin ETFs. Yet NYDIG, established in 2016, continues its mission to “make Bitcoin accessible to all” through products such as bitcoin accounts, rewards and loyalty programs.

Earlier this year, it launched a benefit program allowing employees of participating companies to allocate a portion of their paychecks to bitcoin.

NYDIG fundraise comes with new CEO

NYDIG’s latest fundraising efforts come amid a reshuffling of senior leadership. On Monday, the group announced the departure of CEO Robert Gutmann and President Yan Zhao. 

Both will continue to work at the firm’s parent company Stone Ridge Holdings, which they co-founded with Ross Stevens in 2012.

NYDIG appointed Tejas Shah, the firm’s global head of trading, to the position of CEO. Nate Conrad, formerly the global head of payments, was appointed to the president position.

Shah and Conrad will focus on expediting investments in NYDIG’s mining solutions franchise and boosting institutional bitcoin adoption via layer-2 scaling project Lightning Network.

All things considered, NYDIG appears healthy at a turbulent time for the digital asset industry. NYDIG’s bitcoin balances hit an all-time high in the third quarter, up nearly 100% year on year, according to a statement released Monday. Revenue is up 130% through the second quarter, it added.

“When markets crumble, character emerges. A flight to quality from the most risk-aware institutional investors has relentlessly driven bitcoin, and revenue, to NYDIG the last 12 months,” Stevens wrote in a statement.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Ethena Labs is leaping from its flagship synthetic dollar, USDe, to a full product suite—USDtb, iUSDe, and the Arbitrum-based Converge Chain—designed to marry crypto-native yields with TradFi-grade compliance. Our analysis shows how expanding into CME, ETF options, and tokenized Treasuries could lift protocol revenue from sub-$500 million in a bear case to several billion dollars if favorable regulation and institutional adoption align.

article-image

Bitcoin is still rising, 11 years after the documentary film The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin

article-image

Arch Labs CEO told Blockworks that the team plans to launch a native token, but declined to give details

article-image

CEO Mike Silagadze tells Blockworks that the US is “open for business” and why its DeFi bank offering is the first of many

article-image

Doing one thing well and leaving everything else out is often what disruptive technologies do best

article-image

Why an analyst is kicking off COIN coverage with “buy” rating