According to the Australian Financial Review, Australian venture firms and cryptocurrency groups have met with C1, a venture capital firm led by former executives of Coinbase. C1 offers to use its $500 million ($AUD 760 million) fund to purchase private holdings from investors.
Animoca Brands, a venture capital firm specialising in gaming and metaverse, and Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis organisation, are two of the cryptocurrency entities that C1 has contacted. The report states that C1 has made an offer to purchase investors’ private holdings at a discount of between 50% and 80% from their most recent valuation.
Since FTX collapsed, Australia has been cautious when it comes to the larger crypto industry. A central bank digital currency (CBDC) may not be introduced for a few years, according to the government, which has also revised its tax guidelines to include capital gains tax on wrapped tokens. The proposed regime could take until 2025 for an Australian digital asset platform to obtain a licence. However, sentiment may be shifting down under as the cryptocurrency market gains traction.
Finding companies with a “minimum valuation of $300 million in their last funding round, preferably Series C and later” is C1’s approach, according to a pitch deck cited in the report. C1 wants to write checks between $20 million and $50 million, according to the report.
“We believe the digital assets market offers very attractive valuations in the secondary market due to current market conditions in the public and private markets, hyperinflation, and rising interest rates,” the deck states, citing the report.
Co-founder and managing partner of C1, Dr. Najam Kidwai, stated, “We haven’t met with either company directly as of yet, and C1 did not authorise this article.”