Cryptocurrencies are an emerging asset class, so it makes the most sense to invest in the entire ecosystem “in a very diverse way”. This view was expressed by billionaire Alan Howard in an interview with The Block.

“You have to be in the crypto world and understand it to understand what is out there, identify the problems and opportunities you will face, and know what infrastructure needs to be built to deal with them,” he said. I said.

The billionaire confirmed that he is still “actively involved” in various ventures of BH Digital, a division of hedge fund Brevan Howard Asset Management. The build was launched in September 2021 and at the time of writing, assets under management exceed $1 billion, according to publication.

“BH Digital reflects my belief in the importance of investing in the entire ecosystem, regardless of instrument (e.g. token, equity, NFT, etc.), in a diversified way with good risk management. This ensures that your income stream never depends on just one strategy, theme or risk taker,” the billionaire explained.

Howard has identified stablecoins, games and metadata sources, DeFi, smart contract security, marketplaces and cross-chain tools as target segments for investments. In the future, BH Digital said it will unleash its market-building capabilities to support new tokens by providing “initial liquidity.”

“We believe our 20-year history and legacy as an active derivatives trader has given us a huge advantage in investing in DeFi,” Howard said.

He stated that venture capital investment and liquid trading in the cryptocurrency market “should be seen as parts of the same universe.”

Howard added that BH Digital takes community engagement seriously and provides portfolio companies with the help they need.

We are talking specifically about the research incubation center Web N Group. It focuses on grassroots projects and offers development support and legal advice to aspiring crypto entrepreneurs to scale their ideas.

Another direction is Elwood Technologies. The firm has developed an enterprise-focused platform for accessing the digital asset market. API for execution, reporting and analytics.

“Elwood was created to meet the market’s urgent need for enterprise-grade infrastructure. […]. Crypto infrastructure was (and still is) geared towards the needs of retail merchants. […] “I wanted to make it easier for institutions to enter the digital asset space,” Howard said.

Elwood Technologies previously agreed with Bloomberg on “strategic integration” into the news agency’s order management system, raising $70 million from Goldman Sachs, Barclays and others.

Elwood currently has a client base of more than 30 companies, including fintech firms and neobanks, asset managers, hedge funds and crypto exchanges.

Recall that Alan Howard participated in funding rounds of custodian Komainu, rival Copper, micropayment service Bottlepay, hedge fund One River Digital.

In March 2022, Brevan Howard led the $7.5 million Series A funding round for DeFi platform Nested.