Morgan Stanley CEO Joins Crypto VC Firm

Jeremy Huff, the former chief operating officer (COO) of Morgan Stanley China, has moved into the crypto industry. No Limits Holdings (NLH) has joined a blockchain-focused venture capital firm.

This move reflects the growing interest in the crypto sector among traditional financial professionals and mainstream institutions.

The former COO of Morgan Stanley launched a new venture in Crypto

Huff brings a wealth of experience from his tenure at Morgan Stanley. Since 2017, he has led operations at the company's various platforms in mainland China.

His role includes strategy execution for Morgan Stanley's offshore mutual fund business. He also participated in the Investment Committee of Morgan Stanley's RMB Private Equity Fund.

Gene Chao, partner and founder of NLH, highlighted the strategic importance of Huff's appointment. He emphasized that Huff's ability to navigate complex concepts and turn them into actionable strategies will be invaluable to NLH's future endeavors.

“Jeremy brings deep experience in corporate law, intellectual property and asset management that complement NLH's strengths as native crypto investors,” Chao explained.

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Huff also expressed his excitement about his new role. He emphasized the transformative potential of blockchain technology. He noted NLH's commitment to supporting visionary creators and developing products that harness the blockchain's potential for decentralization and democratization.

“As a believer in the power of blockchain to change our world for the better, I couldn't be happier,” Huff said.

No Limits Holdings' recent activity reinforces renewed interest from venture capitalists in the crypto, blockchain and Web3 sectors.

For example, Hawn Ventures recently led $5 million in seed funding for Agora, an app designed to streamline voice and decision-making for decentralized nonprofits. This round also saw participation from major players like Coinbase Ventures.

Moreover, Galaxy Digital expanded its investment strategy by raising a $100 million fund to boost early-stage crypto startups. The fund, known as Galaxy Ventures Fund I, LP, plans to back up to 30 startups over the next three years. Investments start at $1 million, focusing on financial applications, software infrastructure and crypto protocols.

In addition to venture capitalists, traditional financial institutions are showing more interest in crypto. A recent investment from BlackRock in real-world tokenization firm Securitize illustrates this trend.

On May 1, Securities announced that they had secured a $47 million investment round led by BlackRock. This investment round features participation from Hamilton Lane, Parafi Capital and Tradeweb Markets. In addition, BlackRock's global head of strategic ecosystem partnerships, Joseph Chalom, will be appointed to Securitize's board of directors.

A recent Pitchbook report further reinforces this trend. The data shows that venture capital investment in crypto startups reached $2.5 billion during the first quarter of 2024. This represents a 32 percent increase from the previous quarter.

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At the same time, crypto startups are raising more capital, and venture companies are raising new digital asset funds. Robert Le, a crypto analyst at Pitchbook, attributes this renewed enthusiasm in part to the approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January. Furthermore, Le cited the interest between crypto communication and artificial intelligence as one of the drivers.