Fairfax County Pension Fund Invests $70M in Crypto Yield Farming Funds: Report

Fairfax County, Va.'s $6.8 billion pension fund, the Fairfax County Retirement Systems, has received approval to invest $70 million across two crypto yield farming funds, according to a Financial Times report.

The Virginia pension fund has invested $35 million each in Parataxis Capital’s digital yield fund and VanEck’s new finance income fund, both of which generate income for investors that provide liquidity to specific crypto entities, the report said.

Spearheaded by Chief Investment Officer Katherine Molnar, the $1.8 billion Fairfax County Police Officers Retirement System has made a series of crypto investments in the past alongside the Fairfax County Retirement Systems, which includes a $50 million investment in Morgan Creek's blockchain fund.

Molnar told the FT that potential returns in the yield farming sector are attractive because a lot of market participants have left the space.

The fund did not respond to CoinDesk's request for comment.

Crypto lender Celsius Network imploded in June after using an array of techniques to generate returns for depositing customers, including yield farming, which the company once described as "high risk."

This led to a period of market contagion that saw the likes of crypto broker Voyager Digital and hedge fund Three Arrows Capital fail, with both companies eventually filing for bankruptcy protection.

Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) invested $150 million in Celsius Network before the lender was forced to halt operations.

"A very small portion of our overall portfolio is invested in new technologies, which feature innovative, high-growth companies in riskier sectors that offer the potential for superior returns," a CDPQ spokesperson told CoinDesk last week.

But Fairfax County, part of the greater Washington, D.C., area, remains unperturbed by the market downturn. Molnar said that even in light of a 50% decline in prices, the fund's original crypto investments are up by 350%, the FT report said.