Akshat, investment director at Arthur Hayes' Maelstrom family office, disclosed that a $100,000 investment in a crypto venture capital fund plummeted to $56,000 over four years, representing a 44% loss. This occurred even as Bitcoin doubled in value and seed-stage tokens in the fund's portfolio saw returns of up to 75 times the initial investment.
The fund, speculated to be Pantera Capital's Early-Stage Token Fund, charged 3% annual management fees and 30% performance fees (carry), which contributed to the capital erosion. Akshat shared a capital account statement from September 2025 showing an opening balance of $54,287.84 and an ending balance of $56,054.01, with a year-to-date net return of -6.08%. He criticized the fund's shift to period-over-period reporting, arguing it obscures long-term underperformance.
This revelation has intensified scrutiny of crypto VC fee structures and performance, with industry observers noting that large funds may struggle to identify high-quality projects due to over-diversification. In response, Maelstrom announced a pivot to a private equity fund targeting profitable, off-chain "picks and shovels" businesses, aiming to address issues like founder exit challenges and institutional risk aversion.
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