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China Merchants Bank joins local DeFi protocol to launch $50 million crypto ecosystem fund
Nervos, a China-based blockchain and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, today announced the launch of a $50 million fund with CMB International (CMBI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Merchants Bank, as per a release.
The new fund, dubbed InNervation, will make early and growth-stage investments in startups building user-facing products based on blockchain technology and will include decentralized applications (dApps), decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, distributed ledger platforms, and non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces.
CMBI has been reportedly exploring the use of decentralized applications with Nervos since 2019. CMBI was also an early investor in Nervos. This latest collaboration between CMBI and Nervos aims to expand the Nervos ecosystem through strategic investments.
The fund’s launch comes as digital assets and blockchain technology see record adoption across all industries and verticals, from media and consumer apps to banking and enterprise software.
As more technologies and use cases transition from centralized to decentralized infrastructures, InNervation – the first joint investment fund between a prominent financial institution and a layer 1 blockchain – will fund developers and entrepreneurs building innovative new solutions that appeal to the mainstream audience.
“As early supporters of Nervos, we’ve worked closely with the team both as partners and investors,” said Samuel Wang, Chief Investment Officer at CMB International. “They’ve made no compromises in building their infrastructure, and we are committed to supporting Nervos and the expansion of its dApp ecosystem.”
CMBI is backing the fund as a strategic partner to help bolster the Nervos ecosystem and will play an active role in the fund’s investment decisions. The fund will be co-managed by Nervos and CMBI and make investments globally with a focus on real-world applications.
The $50 million fund will be deployed over a three-year period, with startups receiving initial investments between $200,000 and $2,000,000 to support their project’s growth on Nervos and in the greater blockchain ecosystem.
As part of its investment thesis, the fund will seek to make investments in projects and startups that have plans to integrate the Nervos blockchain into their long-term product roadmap.
Meanwhile, the development comes amidst the latest round of ‘FUD’ out of China. The country’s relationship with cryptocurrencies is shaky, to say the least, with the government banning their ownership, trading, or holding back in 2017 but leaving legal repercussions ambiguous to one’s judgment.
