Maelstrom is a crypto-focused family office and venture fund operated by Arthur Hayes, the co-founder of BitMEX, one of the earliest and largest crypto derivatives exchanges. The fund was established to deploy capital from Hayes's personal wealth into early-stage blockchain and decentralized finance projects. Maelstrom concentrates almost exclusively on the crypto-native sector, backing protocol infrastructure, DeFi applications, and Web3 tooling rather than pursuing diversified technology mandates common among traditional venture firms.
The fund does not publicly disclose assets under management. Given its family office structure, it operates with fewer regulatory disclosure requirements than institutional funds. Hayes has described Maelstrom's approach in public writing as conviction-driven – taking concentrated positions in projects he believes will matter at the protocol level, with a particular interest in Bitcoin-adjacent finance and decentralized perpetuals markets. Geographic focus is global, reflecting Hayes's own internationally mobile career, though the fund lists United States as its primary domicile.
Notable investments
- Lombard Protocol – a Bitcoin liquid staking protocol that lets BTC holders earn yield while remaining liquid. Maelstrom participated in an early funding round.
- Ethereal – a decentralized perpetuals exchange in the Synthetix ecosystem. Maelstrom backed the project's early development phase.
- Infinex – a multi-chain frontend aggregator designed to simplify access to DeFi protocols. Kain Warwick, founder of Synthetix, leads the project. Maelstrom is a named investor.
- Cube.Exchange – a hybrid order-book exchange combining off-chain matching with on-chain settlement. Maelstrom led or co-led an early round.
- Stroom Network – a project enabling Bitcoin staking on the Lightning Network. Maelstrom backed the seed round.
- Shogun – cross-chain intent and execution infrastructure. Maelstrom listed as a backer.
- Encifher – a privacy-focused compute layer for encrypted on-chain data. Early-stage investment.
Public information about exact deal sizes across Maelstrom's portfolio is limited. The fund has not published a comprehensive portfolio page, and most investment disclosures come from portfolio companies' own announcements.
Team
Arthur Hayes serves as Chief Investment Officer. He co-founded BitMEX in 2014 and built it into the dominant Bitcoin derivatives venue before stepping down in 2020 amid a US Department of Justice investigation. In 2022 Hayes pleaded guilty to Bank Secrecy Act violations and was sentenced to two years of probation, avoiding prison. He has since been active publicly, writing macro and crypto analysis on his Substack Dust on the Crust and speaking at major crypto conferences. His writing frequently telegraphs Maelstrom's investment theses.
Akshat Vaidya leads portfolio management and deal sourcing at Maelstrom. He works closely with Hayes to evaluate early-stage projects and manage existing positions. Beyond these two publicly named individuals, the team structure is not widely disclosed.
Recent activity
Through 2024 and into 2025, Maelstrom remained active in the DeFi infrastructure space, with visible participation in rounds for Bitcoin yield and staking primitives – a thematic area Hayes has written about extensively. The fund has shown consistent interest in projects that extend Bitcoin's programmability without altering its base-layer properties. Maelstrom has also participated in projects tied to the Synthetix and Ethena ecosystems, reflecting Hayes's documented long-term interest in decentralized derivatives.
No portfolio company failures have been publicly attributed to Maelstrom, though the broader crypto venture environment saw significant markdowns across early-stage DeFi positions during 2022–2023. The fund's exact performance through that period is not disclosed.
Looking ahead, Maelstrom's trajectory is closely tied to Hayes's public market views. His writing in 2024–2025 emphasized a bullish macro case for Bitcoin and Bitcoin-native DeFi, suggesting the fund will continue backing early-stage projects in that cluster. For a family office with no LP obligations, Maelstrom can hold positions through multiple market cycles – an advantage that distinguishes it from time-limited institutional funds.
