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.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 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.

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.

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.

recent research

zerebro.png

Research

Here we tackle the new crypto product ideas we expect agents to enable, reason about the value capture potential of different AI agent platform plays, and survey the current landscape of leading AI agent platform pureplays available to crypto investors today.

article-image

Despite the decades-long lead, there are spooky similarities between ETH and Intel stock

article-image

Some are calling for Solana to pump the brakes until validators are able to share the extra fees with stakers

article-image

Pantera junior partner Mason Nystrom details why projects need to raise capital

article-image

It’ll take time to “disentangle all these strands,” Peirce noted — ongoing litigation included

article-image

The victory lap the crypto industry has run since election night is bumping into some hurdles

article-image

The crypto custody firm’s goal was to “identify price points at which traders might consider the market to be overextended”