On Sept. 1, the South China Morning Post reported that the Filipino boxer turned politician and singer launched his own token with the financial support of private investors such as ex-Liverpool and England soccer star Michael Owen and Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family.
Philippine boxing champion and celebrity Manny Pacquiao has launched his own cryptocurrency.
The Pac token will be listed on Singapore’s Global Crypto Offering Exchange (GCOX), paving the way for his fans to buy merchandise and interact with him via social media.
Listing on Singapore-based Global Crypto Offering Exchange
GCOX Founder and CEO Jeffrey Lin reportedly said that the token is not intended to just raise money but to build a token ecosystem.
Pacquiao, who currently holds the World Boxing Association welterweight title, first assumed office as a senator in the Philippines in June 2016.
More celebrity plans to launch crypto tokens with GCOX
As Cointelegraph previously reported, American singer-songwriter Jason Derulo is also planning to launch his own cryptocurrency on the platform.
GCOX’s chief communications officer Evan Ngow said at the time: “We are committed to assembling a diverse, multi-talented array of stars at GCOX, and Jason will certainly not be the last musician to join our ranks.”
In its white paper, GCOX points out that its technology is built on the Acclaim blockchain and is designed to benefit celebrities at different points in their career.
Peter Thiel-Backed Investment Fund 1Confirmation Raises $45 Million
Crypto investment fund 1Confirmation, backed by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, has raised $45 million for its second fund.
Following the raise, 1Confirmation has over $75 million in assets under management for investing in new projects in the crypto industry, the firm’s founder Nick Tomaino announced on Sept. 25.
San Francisco-based 1Confirmation is one of the earliest crypto investment firms that have high-profile backers such as PayPal co-founder Thiel, billionaire investor Mark Cuban, Andreessen Horowitz’s co-founder Marc Andreessen, and global private equity fund-of-funds Horsley Bridge, the post notes.
$60 million initially projected: report
Tomaino, a former employee at major United States-based crypto exchange and wallet service Coinbase, declined to provide the entities of investors in the new fund in an interview with Fortune.
However, he said that it includes a lot of his initial investors. Tomaino added that the crypto industry is still waiting for a mainstream application beyond speculation. However, the adoption of crypto for savings and lending is gaining momentum, he added.
In January 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported that 1Confirmation initially projected to raise $60 million for its second fund.
Pension Funds Put $50 Million into Morgan Creek’s New Blockchain Fund
Morgan Creek Digital has raised the first $60.9 million tranche of its $250 million target for its second venture capital fund.
Morgan Creek revealed exclusively to CoinDesk that the same institutions from the first fund, including two public pension funds, have increased their investments in the second by more than twofold.
Together, Fairfax County’s Virginia’s Police Officer’s Retirement System and Employees’ Retirement System are investing a combined $50 million in the second fund, up from $21 million in its first fund that closed in February.
Commitments from other institutional investors including Wakemed Health and Hospitals, an insurance company and a university endowment make up the remaining $10 million of the tranche.
In an interview with CoinDesk, Morgan Creek Capital partner Anthony Pompliano said the decision was taken to split the full $250 million raise into tranches, with no date yet set for its close.
“We hear folks saying institutions aren’t interested, but this initial close along with the conversations we’re having with tens of other institutions, shows that there is no lack of interest.”
The second fund will be primarily focused on seed investments in equity like the first fund, which included investments in what Pompliano called “blockchain infrastructure” companies like Bitwise and BlockFi.
“When you see the quality of the LPs in this fund, it speaks to the work that these infrastructure companies have done over the last 18 to 24 months”, Pompliano said.
For its first fund, Morgan Creek raised $40 million, with stronger-than-expected investor demand leading the company to exceed its initial fundraising target of $25 million.
Combined with the Digital Asset Index Fund, a crypto index fund managed by Bitwise Asset Management, Morgan Creek has more than $100 million assets under management.
“We raised the first fund for specific investments”, Pompliano said, while the $250 million fund is “more institutionally sized.”
“For the LPs that are investing with us, this is a size that they’re used to.”
