LL Cool J Invests In $72 Million Crypto Fund

First it was the outcasts. Then it was the “forward thinking” silicon valley gurus and eccentric CEOs. Then the contrarian Wall Street pros such as PTJ and Druck who got on board. And now, we are in the phase where rappers are throwing their full weight (which in some cases is substantial) behind cryptocurrencies.

According to CoinDesk, LL Cool J is the latest investor in a crypto startup: the rapper and entrepreneur is part of a “glitzy” roster of limited partners backing North Island Ventures’ newly revealed $72 million VC fund, which is headed by Glenn Hutchins, co-founder of $39 billion private equity firm Silver Lake Partners. His backers include big names like hedge fund icon Paul Tudor Jones; Apollo co-founder Josh Harris, and former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi.

The report notes that the new VC fund, whose co-founders are Hutchins’ son James Hutchins and former Digital Currency Group investor Travis Scher, has been quietly making VC investments in crypto and blockchain projects since early last year.

“Some people might see this story and think Glenn Hutchins is jumping on the bandwagon,” Travis Scher told CoinDesk in an interview.

“The truth is that Glenn was one of the earliest very established leaders from the finance community to get behind this technology.”

In addition to Dapper Labs (the company behind the new Flow blockchain and surging NFT game NBA Top Shot), North Island has invested in carbon-credit tracking platform Nori and blockchain interoperability app Axelar.

While quite a few celebrities – including some rappers such as Soulja Boy – got involved in bitcoin during the ICO boom of 2017, this time around it’s a “more measured approach”, said Scher.

“I would say that pitching LL Cool J about our fund was a surreal experience,” said Scher.

“I think people across a variety of industries, including entertainment, are curious about what opportunities this technology presents for them.”

We’ll leave it up to readers to decide if the widespread adoption of bitcoin by popular culture is once again signs of a top.