CHAPEL HILL – A fund established by Morgan Creek Capital Management to specifically explore “blockchain opportunities” has raised an additional $10.1 million, according to a recent securities filing.
That’s in addition to $60.9 million raised last October, bringing its total to date to $71 million.
The Chapel Hill-based firm, based on 301 West Barbee Chapel Road, filed the informationunder Morgan Creek Blockchain Opportunities Fund II. It raised the capital from 28 investors, the filing noted. One investor may not qualify as an accredited investor.
The firm did not specify how it intends to use the funds, but the fund’s name suggest that it will go towards investing in “blockchain opportunities.”
Blockchain is a transparent, supposedly tamper-resistant distributed ledger or database for recording transactions.
Some say the opportunities for blockchain appear endless as the technology is adopted across various industries. Though it got its start with Bitcoin, it is not just a financial services technology. It can be used to keep track of goods in a supply chain, healthcare records, tax collection and digital identity management. It can be used to increase transparency and remove friction as assets are sold, traded or shared.
Robin H. Butler, chief compliance officer at Morgan Creek Alternative Funds, signed the filing.
In 2018, Morgan Creek launched a cryptocurrency fund that focuses in part on crypto infrastructure, the “picks and shovels” of the space, Morgan Creek founder and CEO Mark Yusko said, according to a CNN report. He also talked about blockchain.
“We believe bitcoin will be one of, if not the, largest network on the planet,” Yusko said. “We are in the middle of the greatest wealth opportunity … It’s beyond any of our imaginations.”
Morgan Creek is investing in a company that seeks to use blockchain to disrupt title insurers, which verify property transfers, Yusko said. Blockchain, the technology bitcoin is built on, is a tamper-proof digital ledger that records transactions without the need of a middleman.
“Title insurance — it’s just a stupid business. Why do we need to pay $1,000?” Yusko asked.
Morgan Creek Capital Management is a SEC-registered investment adviser providing investment management services to institutional and qualifying clients such as endowments, pension plans, foundations and family offices.
According to its website, the firm provides “asset allocation, manager selection, and portfolio construction” based on the University Endowment Model.
Crytocurrencies – like bitcoin — are a digital or virtual currency that use cryptography for security. Blockchain is the technology that enables the existence of cryptocurrecy by providing a decentralized ledger of all transactions on a peer-to-peer network.
Morgan Creek also has offices in New York and Shanghai.
