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VanEck’s new $30 million fund, VanEck Ventures, will focus on investment in fintech, crypto and AI startups building next-generation payments.
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VanEck, one of the issuers of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) in the United States, is launching a new initiative to support early-stage projects related to cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence.
VanEck has launched VanEck Ventures, a $30 million fund investing in fintech, crypto and AI startups in pre-seed and seed stages, the company officially announced on Oct. 9.
Among VanEck Ventures’ core investment themes, the fund mentioned tokenized assets, internet native financial marketplaces and payments based on stablecoins and tokenized capital markets.
Circle Ventures’ Wyatt Lonergan and Juan Lopez to lead VanEck’s $30 million fund
VanEck’s new $30 million crypto and AI fund is run by the former head of Circle Ventures, Wyatt Lonergan, and Juan Lopez, who headed Circle Ventures’ corporate development and ventures.
Launched in late 2021, Circle Ventures is a venture fund by Circle Internet Financial, which operates USD Coin (USDC), the second largest stablecoin by market capitalization.
Related: PayPal, Ernst & Young settle first corporate payment via PYUSD stablecoin
At Circle Ventures, Lonergan and Lopez successfully invested more than $50 million in early-stage companies ranging from infrastructure to consumer applications.
Circle Ventures’ Wyatt Lonergan (left) next to Juan Lopez Source: VanEck
According to Lonergan, VanEck Ventures’ focus on stablecoin projects is relevant as he believes that stablecoins will emerge as an “an open-source banking layer.”
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
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This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
