Tezos Foundation had over $600M in assets as of January, 47% in bitcoin

Quick Take

  • Switzerland-based Tezos Foundation had $635 million in assets as of January 
  • Almost half of these assets were held in bitcoin at the time 
  • The foundation raised $232 million worth of bitcoin and ether in an ICO in 2017

Tezos Foundation, a non-profit behind the development of the Tezos protocol, had $635 million in total assets as of January 31. 

Almost half (47%) of these assets were held in bitcoin (BTC), according to a biannual report published by the foundation on Thursday. 

Bitcoin holdings were followed by the foundation’s native tezos (XTZ) token (23%) and a stability fund (16%), which includes assets such as bonds, exchange-traded funds, and commodities.

While bitcoin forms the largest component of the foundation’s total assets, its share has fallen from 61% in July, and assets have also declined from $652 million at the time. 

The value of total assets must have declined further, given the recent crash in crypto and traditional financial markets.

Source: Tezos Foundation

Tezos Foundation raised $232 million worth of bitcoin and ether (ETH) in an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017. ETH now forms a part of the foundation’s “other investments” at a mere 6%.

Grants

The foundation provides grants to projects that are building on top of the Tezos network. Since August 2019, the foundation has committed funds to 78 new projects for a total amount of $37.6 million, per the biannual report.

Ryan Jesperson, president of the foundation, said the Tezos developer community had seen growth in recent months. 

“The Tezos Foundation surpassed its goal of training 1,000 new Tezos developers in 2019 by actually training 1,338 new developers and counting. This growth was extra apparent when over 450 Tezos enthusiasts gathered in New York City at the end of September for the first global Tezos conference," said Jesperson. 

Looking ahead, “a variety of teams” expect to launch their Tezos-based products in 2020, according to Jesperson. 



Update (8:20 am EST): This story and its headline have been updated for clarity


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Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.