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Finance

Former HSBC, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch Asia Execs Start $50M Crypto Fund

Liquibit Capital is also said to be managed by a former Barclays Capital vice president and two current JPMorgan and Wells Fargo technicians.

By Ada Hui
AccessTimeIconSep 21, 2020 at 2:47 p.m. UTC
Updated May 9, 2023 at 3:11 a.m. UTC
Hong Kong flag (Shutterstock)

Banking veterans who have steered divisions at HSBC, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch in the Asia-Pacific region are ditching traditional finance to invest in cryptocurrencies.

  • People familiar with the matter told CoinDesk that Joseph Chang, head of equities trading and prime finance at Merrill Lynch, HSBC and Citigroup Asia-Pacific from 1997 to 2016, and Grahame Webb, head of technology from 2013 to 2018 for HSBC and Citigroup Asia-Pacific prime finance and securities services, have been trading cryptocurrencies since June through a new Hong Kong-based fund, Liquibit Capital.
  • Liquibit Capital, also managed by a former Barclays Capital vice president and two current JPMorgan and Wells Fargo technicians, will manage assets worth $50 million, the people said.
  • Liquibit is said to arbitrage a portfolio of bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether, litecoin and eos, custodied with Fireblocks.
  • It is expected to expand to trading derivatives, options and futures on BitMEX, Huobi, OKEx and Deribit – cryptocurrency exchanges with a largely Asia-based presence.
  • Chang, now Liquibit Capital's chief investment officer, said regulatory bloat and a surplus of middlemen while trading at investment banks convinced him and his partners to switch to cryptocurrency markets.
  • Webb, chief technology and operating officer at Liquibit Capital, has also previously structured custody and clearing architecture for securities flowing between wealth managers.
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    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.