Barry Silbert is again with Yuma Asset Administration, a fund constructed to put money into AI networks like Bittensor. After years of regulatory and market setbacks, the DCG founder is seeding the fund with $10 million in a recent try to regain his footing within the subsequent section of crypto infrastructure.
Abstract
- Barry Silbert launched Yuma Asset Administration, a fund centered on AI-powered crypto networks like Bittensor.
- The fund targets early-stage groups constructing decentralized AI infrastructure, rewarding output via tokens resembling TAO.
- Silbert says Bittensor represents actual utility in AI, contrasting it with speculative “AI pretenders.”
On Oct. 9, Bloomberg reported that Barry Silbert, the founding father of Digital Foreign money Group, launched Yuma Asset Administration, a brand new agency designed to channel capital into synthetic intelligence infrastructure constructed on the Bittensor community.
The fund, initially seeded with $10 million from DCG, will goal early-stage groups creating decentralized AI methods and instruments, rewarding their output via tokens like TAO. Silbert, who additionally leads Grayscale Investments, mentioned he hasn’t felt this stage of pleasure since Bitcoin’s early days, describing Yuma as a car for institutional traders to achieve structured publicity to crypto’s intersection with AI.
“I’ve not been as enthusiastic about something since Bitcoin as I’m about Bittensor,” Silbert mentioned in an interview. “I put my business-building jersey again on and I’m the CEO of Yuma,” the report quoted Silbert.
Silbert’s conviction in Bittensor and the promise of AI tokens
Silbert’s conviction stems from a perception that Bittensor provides a tangible, useful different to the crowded discipline of what he calls AI pretenders. He particularly pointed to BitMind, a device constructed on the community that identifies deepfake pictures, as proof of the ecosystem’s capability to supply sensible purposes. This concentrate on utility is a direct rebuttal to the handfuls of crypto tasks he claims are merely driving the AI hype prepare with out substantive expertise.
Per the report, the fundraising technique for Yuma is tailor-made for high-risk, high-reward traders. Silbert is concentrating on venture-capital-like backers, together with rich people and establishments, who can tolerate a complete loss whereas betting on a monumental win.
Whereas Silbert declined to specify a exact goal or timeline, he contextualized the ambition by noting that the entire capital increase for the 2 funds wouldn’t exceed Bittensor’s personal market valuation, which at present sits at roughly $3 billion.
To make this nascent ecosystem enticing for institutional capital, Yuma’s funds are being structured round acquainted market ideas. Bloomberg mentioned one fund is being marketed as analogous to the Nasdaq, whereas the opposite is in comparison with the Dow Jones Industrial Common.
The launch of Yuma final 12 months occurred simply weeks after the presidential election, a timing that coincides with a notable shift within the crypto-political local weather. This transfer follows a tough interval for DCG, which confronted a federal probe, layoffs, and fraud allegations within the aftermath of the FTX collapse. The alternate’s implosion noticed asset costs plummet and regulatory scrutiny intensify.
