Crypto adoption is seeing brands like Gucci take center stage, say co-heads of Brevan Howard Digital

Venture Capital • October 12, 2022, 5:00AM EDT
UPDATED: October 12, 2022, 5:05AM EDT
The Block

Episode 98 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with The Block's Frank Chaparro and Brevan Howard Co-Heads of Ventures Peter Johnson and Colleen Sullivan.

Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to [email protected].

In August, it was reported that asset management firm Brevan Howard raised over $1 billion to invest in the crypto industry.

In this episode of The Scoop, Brevan Howard’s Co-Heads of Ventures Peter Johnson and Colleen Sullivan break down their investment thesis and explain what segments of the crypto market they believe are seeing the most interest from existing brands.

While traditional financial institutions are slowly moving their way into the crypto ecosystem, Sullivan points out that many traditional brands have already fully entered crypto via NFTs, metaverse experiences, and gaming:

“Look at Goldman, JPMorgan, Citi, they're all involved in crypto to a certain extent — not to the degree we would have thought — but the institutions that are here are the Gucci's, the Nike's, the Tiffany's, the Dolce and Gabbana, Balmain, Balenciaga.”

Blockchain gaming is one subset of the crypto market that Brevan Howard has recently been allocating to; just last week the firm co-led a $40 million Series A for Web3 gaming startup Horizon Blockchain Games.

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Outside of gaming, the digital asset opportunities Brevan Howard is looking to invest in relate to practical use cases. As Johnson explains,

“What we're really excited about right now is moving beyond just speculative trading and where are the real world use cases that we're seeing crypto start to gain adoption.”

During this episode, Chaparro, Johnson, and Sullivan also discuss:

  • Why decentralized derivative platforms are an exciting opportunity
  • What qualities Johnson and Sullivan look for in founders
  • How regulation will make the crypto space more efficient

This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Tron

About Tron
TRON is dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and decentralized applications (dApps). Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON network has continued to deliver impressive achievements since MainNet launch in May 2018. July 2018 also marked the ecosystem integration of BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized web3 services boasting over 100 million monthly active users. The TRON network completed full decentralization in December 2021 and is now a community-governed DAO. | TRONDAO | Twitter | Discord |


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Authors

Davis Quinton is the Director of Podcasts at The Block and runs our flagship podcast called The Scoop, hosted by Frank Chaparro. Since joining The Block as an 'intern' in early 2022, he has worked closely with leaders across departments to translate The Block's written content into engaging multimedia formats. He holds a degree in Social Research & Public Policy from New York University in Abu Dhabi and is based in Sydney, Australia.
Frank Chaparro is Host of The Scoop podcast and Director of Special Projects. He also writes a biweekly newsletter. Chaparro started his career at Business Insider, where he specialized in the intersection of digital assets and Wall Street, market structure, and financial technology. Soon after joining Business Insider out of Fordham University, Chaparro was interviewing top finance and tech executives, including billionaire Mark Cuban, “Flash Boys” star Brad Katsuyama, Cboe Global Markets CEO Ed Tilly, and New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley. In 2018, he become a sought after reporter in the crypto world, interviewing luminaries such as Tyler Winklevoss, the cofounder of Gemini, Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle, and Fundstrat head Tom Lee. For inquiries or tips, email [email protected].

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