Mike Novogratz Nets $250 Million for New Crypto Investment Venture

Billionaire and former Wall Street fund trader Mike Novogratz has reportedly raised $250 million for his come-back – a cryptocurrency investment venture dubbed Galaxy Digital.

According to Bloomberg, the private placement will enable Novogratz’s new firm to trade and manage cryptocurrency assets and offer consultancy services to blockchain startups.

In addition, a report from Taiwan’s media outlet Economic Daily News revealed that Terry Gou, founder and CEO of Foxconn (HCM) is one of the participating investors with an $18 million placement in the round.

The reports also indicate that investors are in fact buying Galaxy Digital’s shares through a shell pharmaceutical company which will allow Novogratz’s firm to be listed on a Canadian stock exchange without disclosing its financials.

The news comes as a notable return of the high profile Wall Street trader, who left Fortress Investment Group in 2015 after the firm closed his $2 billion macro fund.

It also arrived just a month after Novogratz formally unveiled a plan for the launch of Galaxy Digital on Jan. 9. The venture announced at the time it will not offer any services to U.S. residents.

Previously, Novogratz has been a notable figure in the cryptocurrency market, being outspokenly bullish about the price of bitcoin since as early as 2014. More recently, he also doubled down on his belief in October 2017 that bitcoin would end the year at $10,000.

Disclosure: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, whose investors include HCM.

Bitcoin and U.S. dollar image via CoinDesk archive