Arrington Capital is a crypto-focused venture fund founded in 2017 by Michael Arrington. The firm launched under the name Arrington XRP Capital – notable as one of the first institutional funds denominated in XRP rather than US dollars. This structure was a deliberate statement: the fund accepted capital contributions and made distributions in XRP, treating it as a functional reserve asset. The firm later rebranded to Arrington Capital, dropping the XRP designation from its name while keeping its focus on early-stage blockchain companies, decentralized finance protocols, and Web3 infrastructure.
The fund targets global opportunities with no single geographic constraint, though it has historically concentrated on projects building across Ethereum-compatible ecosystems, alternative Layer 1 networks, and DeFi primitives. Target check sizes and total AUM are not publicly disclosed in full; the initial fund was reported to have a $100 million target at launch. Subsequent fund vehicles have been raised, though precise figures are not confirmed in public filings. The firm is structured offshore, with operations managed out of multiple jurisdictions common among crypto-native funds.
Notable investments
Arrington Capital's portfolio spans approximately 30 disclosed investments across infrastructure, DeFi, and application-layer projects. The firm has backed projects at the intersection of on-chain liquidity, cross-chain interoperability, and decentralized exchange infrastructure. Specific confirmed holdings from public announcements include participation in funding rounds for various Layer 1 and Layer 2 protocols, though the firm does not maintain a fully public portfolio page. Public information about the specific composition of the current 30-project portfolio is limited to individual deal announcements rather than a consolidated disclosure.
- DeFi protocols – the fund has publicly participated in early rounds for decentralized lending and derivatives projects.
- Layer 1 / Layer 2 networks – investments in alternative smart contract platforms and scaling solutions.
- Web3 infrastructure – developer tooling, wallet infrastructure, and oracle networks.
Investors seeking the full portfolio list should consult Arrington Capital on Crunchbase, which aggregates publicly announced rounds.
Team
Michael Arrington is the firm's founder and most visible figure. He co-founded TechCrunch in 2005, building it into the leading technology news publication before selling it to AOL in 2010. His background is in law and media, not traditional finance, which shaped the firm's culture as operator-friendly and narrative-driven. He has been a vocal public advocate for crypto markets and has written and spoken extensively on regulatory issues facing the industry.
Additional partners and investment team members have varied over the fund's history. Public information about the full current team composition is limited beyond Arrington's own public profile.
Recent activity
Arrington Capital remained active through the 2023–2025 market cycle, continuing to deploy capital into early-stage projects during a period when many generalist funds pulled back from crypto. The fund participated in several token-based investment rounds – a structure common among crypto-native VCs that blends equity and liquid token rights. Michael Arrington has been publicly critical of aspects of US crypto regulation and has commented frequently on SEC enforcement actions affecting the industry.
The fund's retail ROI figure of 1.03x reflects the broader challenge facing crypto venture portfolios marked during a cycle that saw sharp corrections in many early-stage token investments after 2021 peaks. Whether this reflects unrealized positions or exits depends on specific deal structures that are not publicly disclosed.
Arrington Capital occupies a distinctive position among crypto VCs: it was built by a media founder rather than a finance or engineering background, and its XRP-denominated origin remains unusual in fund history. For the latest announcements, the firm posts periodically at arrington.capital. Coverage of individual deals can be tracked via The Block and Decrypt, which have covered several Arrington Capital rounds over the years.
