Karatage, a leading London-based proprietary hedge fund specializing in digital assets and emerging technology, has appointed Shane O’Callaghan as senior partner and head of institutional strategy.
O’Callaghan joins from Dutch market maker IMC Trading, where he worked as global head of institutional partnerships and digital asset sales for the past year.
Before joining IMC, O’Callaghan worked at cryptocurrency trading platform Portofino Technologies as global head of business development, as well as head of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for now-defunct cryptocurrency lender BlockFi.
“Shane didn’t join because it was safe. He joined because the opportunity is rare: to build something bold, aggressive and genuinely disruptive from the inside out,” Marius Barnett, co-founder and CEO of Karatage, said in emailed comments. “He is moving away from elite senior positions to help us execute at a higher level, move faster and raise the bar in everything we do.”
Karatage is a hedge fund that invests in digital assets, crypto-native investment funds, and companies that build infrastructure, products or services for the blockchain economy. Founded in 2017, the company emerged during the initial growth of institutional investment in digital assets and has remained active through multiple market cycles.
“At Karatage, we are not interested in incremental growth or polite ambition. We are here to create a dominant force, and Shane materially strengthens our ability to do just that. This is the beginning of a much larger chapter,” Barnett added.
The fund typically takes a thematic approach, backing technologies and companies that it believes could have a structural impact on finance and the broader economy, including blockchain networks, decentralized finance (DeFi), and related services.
Karatage is known for combining investments in liquid tokens with long-term bets on companies and managers operating in the crypto space.
“The company’s unique combination of equity capital, technical depth and strategic vision is exactly what the market requires today,” O’Callaghan said in emailed comments. “I am excited to join Marius, Stephen and the entire team to help drive the next phase of the firm’s global institutional expansion,” he added.
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