Maelstrom Co-Founder Criticizes Pantera for Poor Fund Performance

Akshat Vaidya, co-founder of Maelstrom, criticized early-stage crypto funds like Pantera Capital for becoming too large and underperforming. He shared that his $100,000 investment in Pantera's Early-Stage Token Fund decreased to $56,000 over four years due to high fees.

The fund charged a 3% management fee and a 30% performance fee, significantly affecting profits.
Despite the broader crypto market doubling in value, including Bitcoin, and early-stage projects achieving returns up to 75x, the fund's performance was poor.
Vaidya argued that large funds struggle to find quality projects and dilute potential gains by spreading investments too thinly.
He suggested that such funds have outgrown the current market capacity, leaving investors with unsatisfactory results.

The Growing Debate Over Crypto Fund Efficiency

Vaidya’s remarks highlight concerns about whether early crypto funds have become inefficient as they grow. Major firms like Pantera Capital and Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z Crypto face challenges deploying large capital efficiently in a young market.

This has led to a "spray and pray" model, placing small bets on numerous startups instead of focusing on targeted opportunities.
Smaller firms, such as Maelstrom, focus on cash-flowing, acquisition-ready businesses offering straightforward exits.
Maelstrom is reportedly raising over $250 million for a new private equity fund targeting mid-sized crypto infrastructure acquisitions.