Key Takeaways
- • Lantern Ventures, a London-based crypto proprietary trading firm founded by former Alameda Research members, is winding down its funds after seven years of operation, according to two people familiar with the plans.
- • The firm is returning capital to investors and has closed its external funds to new investment, per people familiar with the process.
- • Lantern, run by Tara Mac Aulay, managed around $600 million in assets at its peak.
- • The firm is reportedly seeking a buyer or considering relaunching as a family office, and a number of staff are likely to lose their jobs.
- • The October 10 crypto market crash has made institutional fundraising more difficult, according to market participants cited by CoinDesk.
Summary
Lantern Ventures, a London-based proprietary trading firm founded by some former members of Sam Bankman-Fried's Alameda Research, is winding down its funds after seven years of operation, according to two people familiar with the plans, as reported by CoinDesk. The firm is in the process of returning capital to investors and has closed its external funds, one person familiar with the situation said.
The firm, run by crypto trader and former Alameda co-founder Tara Mac Aulay, held more than $600 million in assets under management at its peak. Mac Aulay declined to comment. According to the report, the firm has been in talks with potential buyers, and an alternative under consideration is relaunching under a family office structure. A number of the hedge fund's staff are likely to lose their jobs, according to a second person.
The report also notes that an affiliate, Pharos USD Fund SP, a Cayman Islands-based investment fund, was listed as the largest single creditor of crypto lender Celsius at the start of its 2022 bankruptcy proceedings, with a claim of around $80 million. Before becoming a full-time trader, Mac Aulay served as CEO of the Center for Effective Altruism, a philanthropic project with which Bankman-Fried was also aligned. Lantern was founded on philanthropic principles, with 50% of founder profits pledged to high-impact charitable causes.
Sources told CoinDesk that the October 10 crypto market crash has made institutional fundraising a tougher proposition.
The firm, run by crypto trader and former Alameda co-founder Tara Mac Aulay, held more than $600 million in assets under management at its peak. Mac Aulay declined to comment. According to the report, the firm has been in talks with potential buyers, and an alternative under consideration is relaunching under a family office structure. A number of the hedge fund's staff are likely to lose their jobs, according to a second person.
The report also notes that an affiliate, Pharos USD Fund SP, a Cayman Islands-based investment fund, was listed as the largest single creditor of crypto lender Celsius at the start of its 2022 bankruptcy proceedings, with a claim of around $80 million. Before becoming a full-time trader, Mac Aulay served as CEO of the Center for Effective Altruism, a philanthropic project with which Bankman-Fried was also aligned. Lantern was founded on philanthropic principles, with 50% of founder profits pledged to high-impact charitable causes.
Sources told CoinDesk that the October 10 crypto market crash has made institutional fundraising a tougher proposition.
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