An anonymous CryptoPunk NFT owner with an influential Twitter following has launched a fund that invests in NFTs on behalf of institutional investors.
Punk 6529’s venture, confirmed by two sources with knowledge of the matter, represents one of the first such funds run by an unnamed portfolio manager — and is a validation of a metaverse world in which the reputations of pseudonymous whales are built upon their savvy in picking NFT projects and not their background.
Blockworks granted sources anonymity to discuss sensitive business dealings. Punk 6529 confirmed the fund launch but declined to comment further.
6529 NFT Fund — which drew the interest of institutional investors, including crypto fund of funds operators — started trading recently. The amount of capital raised by its manager isn’t known.
Punk 6529, the owner of slews of other rare, valuable NFTs, has more than 240,000 followers on Twitter, where they espouse on everything from the future of the metaverse to regulation from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to wealth inequality.
“The Metaverse will actually happen this decade,” Punk 6259 wrote. “If it is open, human innovation will flourish. If it is closed, we are digital serfs of sorts. We 100,000 or so people right now are the front-line in this battle and we have to do it ourselves.”
The account is also building a virtual museum, 6529 Museum, and operates a number of virtual galleries for viewing NFTs and digital photographs.
In addition, the investor has been involved in bids for high-profile NFT projects, including bidding on imprisoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht’s collection, The Block reported. They’ve also owned one of the CryptoKiddies, which have sold for more than 100 ether each.
