Bitcoin Investment Firm NYDIG Raised $720M for Digital Asset Fund, CEO Gutmann Departs

Bitcoin investment company NYDIG raised $720 million for its institutional digital asset fund a few days before its CEO Robert Gutmann said he was leaving the company.

NYDIG raised the funds from 59 investors, at an average contribution of $12 million, the firm said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week.

The investment firm's president Yan Zhao also left the company along with Gutmann. Gutmann and Zhao will remain at Stone Ridge Holdings, the parent firm of NYDIG, which they co-founded with Executive Chairman Ross Stevens.

NYDIG has promoted executives Tejas Shah and Nate Conrad to be its new CEO and president, respectively, according to an announcement on Monday. Shah and Conrad previously served as global head of institutional finance and global head of payments, respectively.

"I'm proud of everything we've accomplished so far, and I cannot wait to see what the incredible NYDIG team will achieve in the coming years and decades," said Gutmann.

The press release did not give a reason for the changes.

As CEO and president, Shah and Conrad will focus on accelerating investments in NYDIG's mining franchise and furthering institutional bitcoin adoption through helping firms harness the Lightning Network, a scaling system designed to increase the speed of sending and receiving bitcoin payments.

Read more: NYDIG to Work With Deloitte in Offering Bitcoin Capabilities to Clients

UPDATE (Oct. 4, 12:00 UTC): Reworks headline and lede.

UPDATE (Oct. 3, 12:27 UTC): Adds last paragraph on $720 million raise for digital asset fund.