Arthur Hayes' family office, Maelstrom, is raising $250 million for a private equity fund aimed at acquiring mid-sized crypto companies. The Maelstrom Equity Fund I targets blockchain service providers to offer traditional investors access amid the market's recovery from the 2022 FTX crash. The fund plans to acquire six firms, each valued between $40 million and $75 million.
Maelstrom, founded by Arthur Hayes and former BitMEX mergers and acquisitions head Akshat Vaidya, announced efforts to raise $250 million for the Maelstrom Equity Fund I, as reported by Bloomberg on Friday. The fund focuses on mid-sized crypto firms, particularly blockchain service providers such as trading infrastructure and analytics startups. It aims to acquire six companies, with each purchase ranging from $40 million to $75 million.
Vaidya, the managing director, described the initiative in a recent X post as "the first control-buyout PE fund to focus solely on the crypto ecosystem." The fund seeks profitability through three strategies: providing founders of supporting blockchain services with clean exit opportunities at reasonable valuations; helping new traditional finance entrants navigate investments by offering an acquisition-ready portfolio of cash-flowing, growing businesses for potential buyers like Robinhood, Charles Schwab, X, and Wealthfront; and enabling capital allocators such as pension funds or family offices to invest nine figures or more into blockchain-supporting businesses without token exposure or market volatility.
Newly hired partner Adam Schlegel joins Hayes and Vaidya in this venture. The fund emerges during a challenging period for private equity, with global firms struggling to attract capital and crypto PE investments dropping to $1.4 billion—a 65% decline from the 2021 peak. However, it coincides with the crypto market's rebound since the FTX-inspired crash in November 2022, with the total market capitalization at $3.59 trillion after a 1.06% decline in the last 24 hours.