Billion Dollar Hedge Fund Manager Believes Blockchain Talent Is Moving in Waves
The founder of crypto’s biggest hedge fund, Polychain Capital, discussed the current movement of top-tier talent in the tech sector from traditional entities to blockchain-based projects. Olaf Carlson-Wee, Polychain’s CEO, gave his input on why he believes crypto is in its best state yet in an interview with Fortune’s “The Ledger.” With over $1 billion under management, Polychain has grown to be a dominant force in the crypto hedge fund space.
Top-Tech Talent Is Joining Blockchain in Waves
Olaf Carlson-Wee was Coinbase’s third employee. Fast forward to three years later, and Carlson-Wee runs the largest cryptocurrency hedge fund to date, with over $1 billion under management. A $10 million dollar investment from Andreessen Horowitz launched the project into the spotlight and kickstarted the digital asset hedge fund formation trend. Since then, a lot has changed in crypto.
In a recent interview with the “The Ledger” for Fortune magazine, Carlson-Wee talked about multiple things, but most notably about his excitement for the future of blockchain and cryptocurrency. While others are ruminating on the causes of the recent bear market, Carlson-Wee believes the blockchain space has never before been in a better place.
Specifically, Carlson-Wee commented on what he believes is an “exodus” from the general tech field to blockchain-related jobs. He stated, “What we’re seeing is an absolute exodus from many of these major tech giants like Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and Snapchat of really high quality talent…”
If anyone is in the position to make such a statement, many believe it is Carlson-Wee. The entrepreneur started off working for Coinbase, and left on good terms. After departing from the tech company, he established Polychain Capital, a now billion dollar hedge fund. Many Silicon Valley tech workers and skilled programmers seem to be following suit.
Development Processes Are Ramping Up Despite Price Selloff
Carlson-Wee additionally stated in his chat with “The Ledger” that he doesn’t believe the price decreases of cryptocurrency are reflective of the true efforts and values within the blockchain ecosystem. He stated:
“What I pay attention to is not the month-to-month market prices of assets but developer momentum around building novel applications… the current developer enthusiasm is unprecedented.”
Carlson-Wee’s statements are, in fact, correct. Despite the cryptocurrency price selloff, development efforts have increased tenfold since 2017. Additionally, ICO funding has been continually soaring, and regulatory outlook seems to be getting more lenient in multiple countries.
Tech Giants Fight to Survive
While some banks and institutions have turned to slander and negative accusations when it comes to addressing cryptocurrency, as well as blockchain, other technology companies have begun adapting to the trend of increasing blockchain and crypto-related projects. Specifically, executives and representatives of Wall Street have been noted to be leaving left and right to either join or form crypto projects.
Other companies and tech giants, such as Facebook, have even created their own departments dedicated to the development and research of blockchain technology. In the case of Facebook, the creation of a position of Director of Engineering, Blockchain, soon followed. As more industries adopt blockchain technology, it is likely that many other research and development departments will quickly transform into dedicated cryptocurrency development sections.
While the tech-sector prepares for blockchain’s inevitable impact on the entirety of centralized computing, many are making early moves to adapt prior to the competition. This has led to an increasing number of hires and diligent efforts by human resources teams of top-tier companies around the globe.
Carlson-Wee makes valid points in his arguments; those who have desired talent are seeking truly creative and innovative outlets, something that it seems decentralized and trustless system designs are very efficient at delivering.
