In a significant show of confidence for the blockchain venture ecosystem, New York-based investment firm DBA announced on Thursday the successful closing of its second venture fund, securing $68 million in capital. This milestone underscores a strategic expansion for the firm, which continues to position itself as a high-conviction player in the volatile, high-stakes world of digital assets.
By focusing on deep technical infrastructure and hands-on partnership, DBA is distinguishing itself from the broader wave of “index-style” crypto investors. With this new injection of capital, the firm aims to solidify its influence, targeting projects that are not merely speculative, but foundational to the next iteration of the global financial system.
Main Facts: A Strategic Capital Injection
The $68 million raised for Fund II represents a clear upward trajectory for the firm. Following a successful $50 million inaugural fund launched in 2023, the latest raise signals that institutional and high-net-worth interest in specialized, research-driven crypto funds remains resilient despite the cyclical nature of the industry.
DBA—an acronym for "Doing Business As"—operates under a unique investment philosophy: the firm aims to "do business as" its portfolio companies. Rather than maintaining the detached posture of a passive allocator, the firm integrates itself into the development and strategic trajectory of its investments. The fund is structured as a 10-year closed-end vehicle, allowing the firm the luxury of long-term patience—a rare commodity in a sector frequently obsessed with short-term liquidity.
Chronology: From Concept to Institutional Scale
The rise of DBA is a story of merging institutional discipline with crypto-native technical fluency.
- 2023: The firm launches its inaugural fund with $50 million in assets under management (AUM). This period was defined by a “bear market” cleanup in the industry, allowing the firm to secure high-quality entry points at favorable valuations.
- 2023–2024: During the deployment phase of Fund I, the firm focused on building a portfolio that spanned scalability, payment infrastructure, and governance. Key investments included Monad and DoubleZero, signaling an early interest in high-performance blockchain architecture.
- Late 2024: After identifying the growing maturity of decentralized infrastructure, the firm initiated the fundraising process for Fund II.
- March 2025: DBA officially announces the $68 million close of Fund II, signaling a transition from an emerging player to an established institutional force in the blockchain venture space.
Supporting Data: Defining the Investment Thesis
DBA’s investment strategy is fundamentally “base-layer” focused. The firm rejects the notion of casting a wide net; instead, it prefers lead roles in early-stage rounds where its input can meaningfully shape the trajectory of the product.
The Portfolio Breakdown
The firm’s current footprint serves as a map of their conviction:
- High-Performance Scalability: Through investments in Monad and DoubleZero, DBA is betting on the necessity of high-throughput blockchain networks that can finally host high-frequency trading and complex dApps.
- Payment Infrastructure: The investment in Payy highlights a focus on stablecoin-focused applications designed to frictionlessly bridge traditional global payments with decentralized rails.
- Governance and Prediction Markets: The firm’s support for MetaDAO underscores a belief in the evolution of decentralized governance, where prediction markets serve as the "source of truth" for organizational decision-making.
- Bitcoin Scaling: By investing in Alpen Labs, DBA is leaning into the narrative that the Bitcoin network is no longer just a store of value, but an emerging platform for functional Layer-2 scaling.
Official Responses: The Leadership Perspective
DBA is helmed by Michael Jordan and Jon Charbonneau, two individuals who sit at the intersection of traditional finance and deep-tech research.
Michael Jordan, formerly the co-head of investments at Galaxy Digital, brings a pedigree of institutional asset management to the firm. His experience navigating the complexities of traditional crypto markets provides a "steady hand" approach to risk management. Complementing him is Jon Charbonneau, a figure widely recognized in the Ethereum community for his rigorous research and technical commentary, formerly of Delphi Digital.
In statements accompanying the fund announcement, the leadership team reiterated their commitment to the 10-year horizon. They emphasized that their thesis is not about chasing the latest memecoin or speculative trend, but about backing the "plumbing" of the internet’s next financial layer.
"DEXs like Hyperliquid are becoming the best trading venue for assets of all kinds," the firm noted. This specific mention of high-performance decentralized exchanges indicates that the firm believes decentralized infrastructure has finally reached a point of parity—or even superiority—relative to traditional financial systems.
Implications: The Future of Digital Asset Venture
The successful raise of $68 million by DBA has several critical implications for the broader blockchain venture capital industry.
1. The Death of the "Spray and Pray" Model
For years, the crypto venture space was characterized by firms making hundreds of small, passive bets in hopes that one might hit a 100x return. DBA’s success suggests a shift toward the "High-Conviction" model. As the industry matures, the need for technical expertise—not just capital—is becoming the primary differentiator for founders. Founders are increasingly choosing investors who can help them with protocol design, security, and market-making strategies.
2. The Infrastructure Pivot
The industry is moving away from purely consumer-facing dApps (which often lacked product-market fit) toward foundational infrastructure. DBA’s focus on base-layer scalability and payment rails suggests that the "infrastructure phase" of blockchain is still in its infancy. Investors are currently betting that before we see mass-market adoption, we must first build the pipes that make that adoption possible.
3. Institutionalizing the "DeFi" Narrative
By focusing on decentralized venues like Hyperliquid, DBA is signaling that the institutionalization of DeFi is no longer a distant hope—it is an active transition. When a firm like DBA declares that decentralized venues are becoming the "best trading venue for assets of all kinds," it serves as a vote of confidence that institutional-grade liquidity is moving on-chain.
4. A Template for 10-Year Horizons
Crypto is historically synonymous with short-term volatility. By committing to a 10-year closed-end structure, DBA is effectively telling the market that it is prepared to weather multiple bull and bear cycles. This long-term commitment allows their portfolio companies to focus on building robust protocols rather than obsessing over daily token price fluctuations.
5. The Professionalization of Crypto Research
The presence of leaders like Charbonneau, who have built reputations on deep-dive, academic-style analysis, highlights the professionalization of the investment process. The "hunch-based" investing of the 2017–2020 era is being replaced by technical auditing, code-review-heavy due diligence, and quantitative analysis.
Conclusion
DBA’s $68 million raise is more than just a capital milestone; it is a validation of a specific, high-conviction, research-first approach to venture capital. As the blockchain industry seeks to transition from experimental technology to a legitimate pillar of global finance, firms that act as active partners—rather than passive check-writers—are likely to define the next era of development.
With their eyes fixed on base-layer infrastructure and a clear, decade-long horizon, DBA is positioned to remain a central architect in the evolving landscape of digital finance. Whether through scaling solutions for Bitcoin or enabling next-generation decentralized trading venues, the firm is betting that the most valuable companies of the next decade will be the ones that provide the essential infrastructure for an on-chain world.
As the industry continues to evolve, the performance of DBA’s second fund will likely serve as a litmus test for whether the high-conviction, technical-partnership model can consistently outperform the more traditional, diversified venture strategies that have historically dominated the venture capital landscape. For now, the firm’s trajectory suggests that they are not just following the market—they are actively building it.
