BlockTower Capital quietly parts ways with top execs: sources

BlockTower Capital, a leading crypto investment firm, has parted ways with a pair of veteran executives.

General partner Michael Bucella left the Miami-based company recently, according to two people familiar with the matter. Meanwhile, Steve Lee, investment director and head of Asia-Pacific, departed in September, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Bucella and Lee joined BlockTower from investment bank Goldman Sachs in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Exactly why they left the firm is not clear. BlockTower did not respond to a request for comment.

Their departures come with rival investment outfits across the crypto sector still licking their wounds after the sudden collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX late last year. A wide variety of investment firms have been affected.

Galois shuts down

Crypto hedge fund Galois Capital announced Monday that it is closing its doors given that a significant amount of assets remain stuck on FTX. The Block revealed in December that QCP Capital, another crypto trading firm, had at least $97 million trapped on the exchange.

Venture capitalists in the sector, including Multicoin Capital and Mechanism Capital, have also been caught up in the carnage.

Founded in 2017, BlockTower is involved in trading, venture capital, credit underwriting and portfolio management, according to its website.

In October last year, the company unveiled a $150 million venture fund, which had been operating in stealth since December 2021. BlockTower counts numerous blue-chip crypto projects in its venture portfolio, including Aptos Labs, Axie Infinity developer Sky Mavis, Solana, Centrifuge and Dapper Labs.