Digital Asset Trader Auros to Invest Over $50M in Crypto Startups Through Its Newly Established VC Arm

As an experienced analyst following the crypto market, I’m excited about Auros’ expansion into venture capital and the appointment of Julien Auchecorne as head of Auros Ventures. With a proven track record at established firms like Brevan Howard and XBTO International, Auchecorne brings valuable expertise to lead the investment efforts.

In a private conversation with CoinDesk, Auros – a notable crypto trading firm and market maker – revealed that its recently formed venture capital division aims to allocate over $50 million of their own funds towards investing in budding digital asset projects within the next two years.

“I have discovered that Julien Auchecorne has been named to spearhead the investment initiatives at Auros Ventures by the company. Prior to joining Auros Ventures, Auchecorne had experience working for various crypto and traditional investment firms such as hedge fund Brevan Howard and digital asset services platform XBTO International.”

Auros’ expansion signifies a significant achievement in its recovery following the setback caused by FTX’s demise towards the end of 2022. In a recent interview, Auros Chief Information Officer Ben Roth revealed that the market maker currently processes approximately 4% of the worldwide crypto trading volume on exchanges.

Auros has joined the ranks of significant market players like Wintermute and Cumberland DRW by launching a venture capital arm alongside their existing trading operations. Prior to this move, Auros had already invested in more than a dozen projects and disbursed approximately $20 million through checks since the third quarter of 2023, according to Roth’s interview with CoinDesk.

Among the investments are Pyth, a data provider, Berachain, a fast layer-1 blockchain, numerous infrastructure projects, and stakes in decentralized physical infrastructure (DeFi) and cryptocurrency exchanges.

Roth explained to CoinDesk that the venture capital arm of their firm primarily assists companies in expanding their operations. Among these firms, Auros serves as an intensive user of their provided services. Unlike some other market-making businesses in the sector, their objective is to establish “strategic collaborations” with their investment recipients instead of employing investments as a means to gain clients for their market-making enterprise.

As a crypto investor at Auros, I can tell you that our strategy involves making deliberate investments, or “concentrated bets,” primarily in the seed and series A stages of promising projects. We’re particularly interested in areas where we believe the next billion users in the crypto space will emerge.

“We are not interested in carpet-bombing the industry with checks,” he said.