Key Takeaways
- • Scalar Capital, a cryptocurrency investment firm, raised new capital from heavyweight backers including Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon (a16z crypto), bringing total assets under management to more than $20 million following an initial $8 million raise in January 2018.
- • Scalar's cofounders, Linda Xie (26) and Jordan Clifford (33), both have deep cryptocurrency operational experience from Coinbase, where Xie worked in compliance and law enforcement liaison, and Clifford served as a growth engineer before launching the firm in January 2018.
- • The firm employs a long-term buy-and-hold strategy, targeting three- to five-year holding periods across approximately 20 cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin as a core holding, positioning Scalar as a fundamental investor rather than a speculative trading operation.
- • Additional investors in the round include Bain Capital Ventures, Coinbase cofounders Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, and angel investor Elad Gil, signaling institutional confidence in the team and the cryptocurrency asset class.
- • Chris Dixon emphasized the fund's focus on investing in "true believers" committed to long-term participation and real-world protocol use cases rather than speculation, reflecting a16z crypto's strategic positioning in the blockchain ecosystem.
Summary
Scalar Capital, a cryptocurrency-focused investment firm founded by Linda Xie and Jordan Clifford in January 2018, secured a new funding round from prominent venture investors including Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z crypto). According to Forbes' exclusive reporting, the new capital infusion brings Scalar's total assets under management to more than $20 million, building on an initial $8 million raise completed earlier in January.
The funding syndicate reflects broad institutional validation of the firm's strategy and team credentials. Beyond Andreessen and Dixon, the round included backing from Bain Capital Ventures, Coinbase cofounders Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, and angel investor Elad Gil. Both cofounders bring substantive operating experience in the cryptocurrency sector. Xie, 26, worked at Coinbase on compliance and law enforcement liaison, tracing bitcoin transactions to combat cybercrime, following a two-year tenure in risk analysis at AIG. Clifford, 33, served as a growth engineer at Coinbase before co-founding Scalar, and the pair identified Coinbase as their formative training ground for entrepreneurship in digital assets.
Scalar employs a disciplined, long-term investment thesis differentiated from speculative trading models. The firm holds approximately 20 cryptocurrencies with an explicit target holding period of three to five years per asset. Bitcoin anchors the portfolio as a core position, with Xie citing its network effects, established infrastructure, custody solutions, and futures market liquidity as foundational investment criteria. This strategic positioning aligns with Dixon's stated investment philosophy: backing "true believers" committed to sustained participation and real-world protocol adoption rather than speculation-driven returns. The firm's approach reflects broader institutional appetite for patient capital deployment in emerging blockchain technologies, particularly among sophisticated investors skeptical of purely financial engineering in the cryptocurrency space.
The funding syndicate reflects broad institutional validation of the firm's strategy and team credentials. Beyond Andreessen and Dixon, the round included backing from Bain Capital Ventures, Coinbase cofounders Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, and angel investor Elad Gil. Both cofounders bring substantive operating experience in the cryptocurrency sector. Xie, 26, worked at Coinbase on compliance and law enforcement liaison, tracing bitcoin transactions to combat cybercrime, following a two-year tenure in risk analysis at AIG. Clifford, 33, served as a growth engineer at Coinbase before co-founding Scalar, and the pair identified Coinbase as their formative training ground for entrepreneurship in digital assets.
Scalar employs a disciplined, long-term investment thesis differentiated from speculative trading models. The firm holds approximately 20 cryptocurrencies with an explicit target holding period of three to five years per asset. Bitcoin anchors the portfolio as a core position, with Xie citing its network effects, established infrastructure, custody solutions, and futures market liquidity as foundational investment criteria. This strategic positioning aligns with Dixon's stated investment philosophy: backing "true believers" committed to sustained participation and real-world protocol adoption rather than speculation-driven returns. The firm's approach reflects broader institutional appetite for patient capital deployment in emerging blockchain technologies, particularly among sophisticated investors skeptical of purely financial engineering in the cryptocurrency space.
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