Full-Time
Venture Research Analyst
Posted on 8/4/2025
Polychain Capital
51-200 employees
Hedge fund managing blockchain asset portfolio
Compensation Overview
$150k - $175k/yr
San Francisco, CA, USA
In Person
 Finance & Banking (1) |
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- Solid understanding of smart contracts scripting, cryptography, crypto-economics, and blockchain technologies generally.
- Ability to identify unconventional trends and emerging technologies.
- Sharp analytical mind with a killer instinct to identify deals in the market.
- Ability to aggregate information from a variety of sources including technical repositories and anecdotal feedback from teams, then draw informed conclusions from incomplete information.
- Able to explain complex concepts in simple terms to a non-technical audience.
- Obsession with the future of blockchain technology, web3, and low-level protocol development.
- An open minded research approach and genuine intellectual curiosity.
- A degree in a technical area (i.e. mathematics, engineering or computer science) and/or technical experience is strongly preferred.
- Sourcing early stage investment opportunities in emergent companies and protocols.
- Working with the senior investment team on due diligence of prospective investments.
- Screening projects by reading protocol specifications and evaluating the technical teams.
- Reasoning through the emerging trends in the space and identifying non-obvious opportunities for deployment of capital.
- Working closely with technical teams on their crypto-economic model, smart contract security, and other questions that come up around protocols and software.
- Willingness to travel as necessary.
- None
Polychain Capital manages a hedge fund focused on blockchain-based digital assets. It seeks exceptional returns for investors by actively managing a portfolio of assets like bitcoin and other crypto tokens. The fund works by buying, holding, and trading digital assets through software-enabled strategies, leveraging cryptographic verification and the properties of blockchain networks to issue and transmit assets. Compared with broader crypto funds, Polychain Capital differentiates itself by specializing in this new digital asset class and applying active investment management to pursue higher returns. Its goal is to generate strong, risk-managed performance for its investors over time.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
N/A
Total Funding
$5.5B
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
Founded
2016
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Ethereum infrastructure pivot captures ETHGas and Cascade growth post-2025.
- Recent $200M Fund IV close signals strong LP demand amid crypto recovery.
- Holaplex Series A powers $200M Solana NFT volume with permissionless marketplaces.
What critics are saying
- Staff exits including Niraj Pant weaken deal sourcing by Q3 2026.
- Solana bets like Holaplex crash on network outages within 12 months.
- Nava AI fails on agent exploits triggering SEC crackdowns in 18 months.
What makes Polychain Capital unique
- Polychain Capital blends VC equity with active hedge fund token trading.
- Firm leverages cryptographic and game-theoretic expertise for blockchain investments.
- Pioneers AI-blockchain fusion via Nava Labs guardrails investment in April 2026.
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Benefits
Remote Work Options
Performance Bonus
Company News
VeryAI has raised $10 million in a seed funding round led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Berggruen Institute and Anagram.
VeryAI has raised $10 million in seed funding led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Berggruen Institute and Anagram, to build a Proof of Reality platform for the internet. The company's first product is a hardware-free palm scan identity verification system designed to combat AI-generated identities and media. Unlike facial recognition, palm patterns are rarely publicly shared and harder to replicate artificially. The platform converts palm scans into irreversible feature representations rather than storing raw biometric data. VeryAI is also developing deepfake detection systems to analyse whether digital content has been artificially generated or manipulated. The funding will support team expansion and product development as platforms increasingly struggle to verify real users and authentic content amidst rising bot activity and AI-generated fraud.
Polychain Capital has raised approximately $200 million in the first close of its fourth fund, with a total target of around $400 million, according to a person familiar with the matter. The raise signals continued investor interest in crypto despite the recent downturn in venture funding. Founded in 2016 by Olaf Carlson-Wee, Coinbase's first employee, Polychain has previously raised three funds with $2.6 billion in assets under management. The firm has led investments in companies including Uniswap and Yellow Card. The fundraising coincided with staff changes, as three research team members were let go whilst another was added. General partner Niraj Pant also departed. The firm is shifting focus towards Ethereum-based projects, particularly layer-2 networks and re-staking protocols, following successful deployment of its third fund.
Holaplex has raised $20 million in a Series A round led by Polychain Capital and Jump Crypto to expand its open-source NFT infrastructure on Solana. The company's codebase has been forked by dozens of teams and powered over $200 million in trading volume. The platform enables creators to launch custom NFT marketplaces without platform fees or permissions, offering decentralised control and community governance. Holaplex plans to use the funding to develop smart-contract royalties, token-gated experiences and integrated USDC checkout. The company is partnering with wallet providers, cross-chain bridges and analytics platforms, targeting 100,000 new artists and developers over the next 12 months. The round signals growing investor interest in permissionless NFT infrastructure.
Aria, a blockchain-based platform for tokenising intellectual property, has raised $15 million through seed and strategic funding rounds at a $50 million equity valuation. Polychain Capital and Neoclassic Capital co-led the seed round, with participation from Story Protocol Foundation and other investors. The company's first token, APL, launched in February and is backed by partial rights to royalties from songs performed by artists including Justin Bieber, BTS and Miley Cyrus. Aria is prioritising ecosystem growth over immediate monetisation, waiving origination fees in early launches to demonstrate its model. The platform aims to democratise access to music royalties, which have historically been restricted to institutional investors. The asset tokenisation sector is projected to reach $2.08 trillion by 2025.