Balaji Srinivasan, one-time Coinbase CTO and former partner at crypto cheerleading VC firm a16z, has decided that it’s time to start investing on behalf of others again and announced a new fund. It’s imaginatively called The Balaji Fund.
The fund will, according to Srinivasan, focus on “crypto/web3, deep learning, augmented reality and virtual reality, genomics, quantified self, autonomous robotics, network states, and frontier technologies.” The minimum investment is $100,000 over two and a half years.
However, the desire to manage other people’s money is a 180-degree turn from where Srinivasan stood not only on his own career but America as a whole less than a year ago.
The worst bet ever
In March of 2023, Srinivasan took one of the most absurd bets in recent financial memory when he predicted that not only would hyperinflation occur in the US but that within 90 days, bitcoin would trade at over a million dollars per coin.
He bet two individuals one million dollars each that his prediction would come true (hopefully the absurdity of this bet is becoming clear).
Bitcoin needs a $970K wick in the next 62 days for Balaji Srinivasan
Read more: Balaji Srinivasan keeps fighting inflation and losing
Needless to say, Srinivasan’s claims failed to materialize and after about 45 days he conceded and paid millions out to two Twitter users.
So, what’s changed over the past year that’s made Srinivasan so bullish on the US dollar and the future of America that he’s willing to go through the rigmarole of spinning up a fund and accept dollars from accredited investors?
It’s unclear, but perhaps he’s decided that the monetary policies he once lampooned are actually useful or that the US dollar remains a strong tool for anyone in finance. Or maybe he doesn’t want to invest his own cash into high-risk investments.
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