The venture capital industry appears to be gearing up for portfolio rebalancing in 2024, with investors positioning themselves to increase exposure to digital assets in the next bull market. Blockchain Capital, for instance, closed two new funds this week, with $580 million in capital to be deployed in crypto gaming and decentralized finance projects. 

Likewise, SkyBridge Capital, Atlas Merchant Capital and Vector Capital are among the final bidders to acquire SVB Capital, the venture arm of the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank. SVB Capital is reportedly a backer of other major venture capital firms in the crypto space, including Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin-based investment products from mainstream financial giants are becoming more popular. Japan’s largest investment bank, Nomura, launched through its subsidiary, Laser Digital, a new Bitcoin 

 fund for institutional investors looking to cater to the demand for Bitcoin exposure.

A growing number of newcomers are also attracting funds. Web3 startup Bastion disclosed $25 million in a seed round to bridge Web3 infrastructure into enterprise technology. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, Laser Digital Ventures (Nomura’s crypto venture arm), Robot Ventures, Aptos Ventures and Alchemy Ventures.

This week’s Crypto Biz explores SVB Capital bids, new funds from Blockchain Capital, the Hut 8-US Bitcoin merger and Citigroup’s private blockchain.

Scaramucci leads bidding for Silicon Valley Bank VC arm: Report

SVB Financial Group, the former parent company of Silicon Valley Bank, is getting closer to a deal that will see the institution sell its venture capital arm, SVB Capital. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital and Atlas Merchant Capital are jostling with the San Francisco firm Vector Capital in the final stages of the bidding process. Sources claimed that SVB’s venture capital arm could be sold off for between $250 million and $500 million but warned that a final sale is not guaranteed and would still require the review of the creditor’s committee. SVB Capital conducts a wide range of investments, including backing other major venture capital firms, such as Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz. The company is not part of SVB’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, and a decision on the sale is expected in the coming weeks.