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Galaxy, the crypto-bank founded by Mike Novogratz, is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in projects that'll lure Wall Street to bitcoin

Reported by Businessinsider
Jun 23, 2018· 3 min read
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Key Takeaways
  • • Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital has deployed hundreds of millions of dollars across two distinct capital pools to invest in cryptocurrency infrastructure and blockchain projects designed to attract institutional capital to digital assets.
  • • Galaxy's venture capital arm, led by venture veteran Sam Englebardt and former Goldman Sachs VP Greg Wasserman, has completed multiple undisclosed investments in early-stage crypto companies and high-volume ICO projects through a six-person investment team.
  • • The firm maintains a dedicated $325 million EOS fund targeting companies building applications on the EOS blockchain, with an additional pool sourced from Galaxy's balance sheet in the "hundreds of millions."
  • • Galaxy announced a lead investment in AlphaPoint, a New York-based digital token infrastructure company, in a $15 million funding round—one of few publicly disclosed transactions as the majority of investments remain confidential.
  • • Galaxy Digital operates as a diversified financial services platform spanning asset management, trading, investing, and consulting, with explicit strategy to build institutional-grade infrastructure solutions for cryptocurrency market adoption.
Summary
Mike Novogratz launched Galaxy Digital in 2018 with the stated mission of bringing institutional investors into the blockchain revolution. The merchant bank has established itself as an active investor across cryptocurrency and digital asset projects, leveraging multiple capital sources to deploy hundreds of millions of dollars strategically positioned to capture infrastructure and middleware opportunities in the emerging crypto market.

Galaxy's venture capital division operates two principal investment pools. The firm has committed a dedicated $325 million fund focused exclusively on companies building on the EOS blockchain ecosystem. Beyond this specialized allocation, Galaxy maintains a second pool sourced from its corporate balance sheet, which sources indicate totals in the "hundreds of millions" of dollars. This dual-pool structure allows the firm to target both blockchain-specific opportunities and broader cryptocurrency infrastructure plays.

The venture unit is staffed by experienced financial services professionals. Sam Englebardt, a venture capital veteran, leads the investment efforts. Greg Wasserman, formerly a vice president at Goldman Sachs, joined as co-head of the venture unit in February 2018, bringing institutional capital markets expertise. Chris Zioli, previously with Insight Ventures, rounds out the senior team. The six-person investment team has already completed a significant portfolio of early-stage investments, though the majority remain undisclosed publicly. The firm's disclosed investment includes a lead position in a $15 million funding round for AlphaPoint, a New York company that provides infrastructure enabling other firms to launch their own digital tokens.

Galaxy's investment thesis centers on identifying companies building infrastructure solutions to facilitate Wall Street's entry into cryptocurrency markets. By backing middleware providers, token launch platforms, and blockchain-native applications, the firm positions itself to benefit from institutional adoption while supporting the ecosystem development necessary to scale digital assets beyond retail speculation. The strategy reflects Novogratz's conviction that cryptocurrency adoption depends on enterprise-grade infrastructure rather than standalone token appreciation.

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Sources

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AlphaMaven summarised this story from the reporting below. Each link opens the original article.

Businessinsider Galaxy, the crypto-bank founded by Mike Novogratz, is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in projects that'll lure Wall Street to bitcoin