Three Arrows Capital (3AC) is causing a stir in the cryptocurrency community once again, making a surprising comeback under the same name, but this time as a venture capital (VC) firm.
On Wednesday, OPNX, the bankruptcy claims exchange co-founded by executives from CoinFLEX and two individuals formerly associated with the defunct hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), announced a new partnership: 3AC Ventures. According to OPNX’s tweet, the partners will be investing in projects within the OPNX ecosystem that are working towards a decentralized future.
3AC Ventures has even launched a website stating that the new firm is focused on achieving superior risk-adjusted returns without leveraging. The hedge fund 3AC suffered a collapse last year due to substantial losses during the implosion of Terra’s LUNA stablecoin.
OPNX, which went live in April as an exchange where users can trade debt claims on bankrupt companies like FTX and Voyager, counts Kyle Davies and Su Zhu, both veterans of 3AC, among its founders. Even during the fundraising round, when the exchange was still named GTX, it faced scrutiny from the cryptocurrency community. Notably, major players like Wintermute distanced themselves from GTX immediately.
The exchange also faced challenges during its initial rollout, experiencing low trading volume. While the volume has since increased, a significant portion of the crypto community remains skeptical about the exchange and its backers.
Therefore, when the partnership with the newly established 3AC Ventures was announced, the crypto community once again expressed doubt. Twitter influencer LilMoonLambo captured the prevailing sentiment by tweeting, “holy shit this is a real tweet.”
Even Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of the crypto exchange BitMEX, joined the Twitter discussion. He retweeted Davies’ announcement about 3AC Ventures and questioned, “Why did 3AC die, please enlighten us?”
It is worth noting that Su Zhu previously obtained a restraining order against Hayes from a Singapore court.
Despite the skepticism, Davies remains committed to promoting the goals of the new VC firm. He stated, “3AC Ventures aims to provide support for projects that are building for a decentralized future. We are eager to collaborate with those courageous enough to tackle significant challenges and develop cutting-edge products,” in an interview with CoinDesk.
Within the last 24 hours, the token for the OPNX exchange, OX, saw a rise of over 12%, while the overall crypto market also experienced a rally, with bitcoin trading above $30,000 on Wednesday.
