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Private-Equity Giant KKR Makes First Blockchain Investment in ParaFi Fund

The investment firm has also created a working group to focus on best use cases for blockchain technology.

Updated May 11, 2023, 5:45 p.m. Published Sep 30, 2021, 2:13 p.m.

Henry Kravis, co-chairman, co-chief executive officer and co-founder of KKR & Co., listens during a panel discussion at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018. The New Economy Forum, organized by Bloomberg Media Group, a division of Bloomberg LP, aims to bring together leaders from public and private sectors to find solutions to the world's greatest challenges. Photographer: Justin Chin/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Investment giant KKR & Co has made its first blockchain-related investment with a stake in the flagship fund of ParaFi Capital, ParaFi confirmed to CoinDesk on Thursday. Bloomberg first reported on the investment this week.

KKR’s investment in the ParaFi fund, which focuses on decentralized finance markets, was made directly from its balance sheet, according to one of Bloomberg’s sources.
The amount invested by KKR, which manages $429 billion in assets, was unknown. ParaFi declined to comment further, while KKR was contacted for comment but had not responded as of press time.
KKR co-founder Henry Kravis is also an investor in ParaFi, and the private equity firm has also created a working group to focus on best use cases for blockchain technology, according to one of Bloomberg’s sources.
ParaFi manages around $1 billion and was founded in 2018 by Ben Forman, who previously worked in KKR’s credit business and led its internal research department on blockchain and crypto, according to Bloomberg.
Other investors in ParaFi include Michael Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Ventures and Bain Capital Ventures.

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KKR private equity firm ParaFi

Tanzeel Akhtar

Tanzeel Akhtar has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Forbes Africa, Financial Times, The Street, Citywire, Investing.com, Euromoney, Yahoo! Finance, Benzinga, Kitco News, African Business Magazine, Hedge Week, Campden Family Office, Modern Investor, Spear's Wealth Management Magazine, Global Investor, ETF.com, ETF Stream, CIO UK, Funds Global Asia, Portfolio Institutional, Interactive Investor, Bitcoin Magazine, CryptoNews.com, Bitcoin.com, The Local, The Next Web, Mining Journal, Money Marketing, Marketing Week and more. Tanzeel trained as a foreign correspondent at the University of Helsinki, Finland and newspaper journalist at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. She holds a BA (Honours) in English Literature from the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK and completed a semester abroad as an ERASMUS student at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She is NCTJ Qualified - Media Law, Public Administration and passed the Shorthand 100WPM with distinction. She does not currently hold value in any digital currencies or projects.