Author:Nina Bambysheva
Compiled by: Deep Tide TechFlow
Deep Tide's Insight: While crypto venture capital peers are moving their focus to AI and robotics, RockawayX is doubling down on crypto through its acquisition of Relayer Capital and is raising funds for a new $150 million fund. Relayer's approximate 70% return this year, along with strong positions in projects like Hyperliquid and Venice AI, provides the confidence for this contrarian expansion. This reflects that some crypto-native capital has refocused on liquid assets ahead of the market rebound, which deserves investors' attention.
According to sources familiar with the matter, RockawayX, a Prague-based digital asset investment firm managing approximately $2 billion in assets, is seeking $150 million for a new liquidity opportunities fund following its acquisition of crypto hedge fund Relayer Capital.
The sources said that Austin Barack, founder of Relayer and a former partner at crypto investment firm CoinFund, will remain at RockawayX to lead this fund. The fund will invest in "undervalued tokens and crypto-related stocks."
This move might have seemed contrarian before the recent crypto market rally. Over the past week, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana have all surged more than 20%. Meanwhile, several prominent crypto VCs have expanded their investment scope to include artificial intelligence, robotics, and other technologies. These include San Francisco-based Paradigm and Framework Ventures.
However, Relayer's performance likely helped convince these early Solana backers to deepen their commitment to this track by acquiring the fund. Sources indicated that Relayer holds positions in hot projects such as the perp exchange Hyperliquid and the decentralized AI platform Venice AI. Their respective tokens have risen by 219% and 1006% this year. This has driven Relayer's year-to-date returns to around 70%, significantly outperforming Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The Hyperliquid token's market cap is about $18 billion, and the Venice AI token is valued at over $800 million.
This acquisition is the latest step in RockawayX's expansion from traditional venture capital into broader areas. In February this year, the company entered the crypto treasury management business through another acquisition. A treasury is a non-custodial smart contract that pools user funds and deploys them into yield-generating strategies. Since then, these treasuries have attracted over $200 million in deposits.
This expansion follows the collapse of its planned merger with Solana treasury company Solmate. In June, RockawayX's investment vehicle, RBCH Ltd., sued board members of Solmate in a New York state court. RBCH Ltd., the largest external shareholder of Solmate, alleged self-dealing and other misconduct by the board. Solmate had previously separately sued RockawayX and its CEO over the failed acquisition talks. It accused the company of providing "misleading financial statements" and engaging in "fraudulent activities" that harmed its valuation. RockawayX denied the allegations, calling them retaliatory. Both cases are still pending.
