RockawayX acquires Relayer Capital to expand U.S. crypto offerings

RockawayX acquired crypto hedge fund Relayer Capital to add long and short strategies to its platform and expand its U.S. presence. RockawayX has roughly $2 billion in assets under management. Relayer will be rebranded as the RockawayX Liquid Opportunities Fund. The fund will focus on identifying undervalued liquid tokens and crypto-related equities. Relayer founder Austin Barack will become the fund's chief investment officer. The company is seeking to raise $150 million for the fund, according to a Forbes report citing sources familiar with the matter. Relayer's liquid strategy delivered a net return of roughly 70% year-to-date, according to the company's statement. The strategy outperformed an equal-weighted basket of bitcoin, ether and solana by 86% as of Aug. 21. RockawayX said the strategy uses long and short positions, including pair trades, to express fundamental views on crypto tokens. The strategy can reduce broader market exposure when appropriate. RockawayX CEO Viktor Fischer said the timing was right for the strategy. Fischer said crypto businesses now have real revenues and strong fundamentals that investors can assess. Fischer said the market still misprices those businesses. The deal comes amid a recent crypto rally. Bitcoin recorded its largest dollar-denominated weekly gain in history last week. Bitcoin fell 1.68% over the past 24 hours to $79,064 after briefly reaching about $81,000 yesterday, according to The Block's BTC price page. Barack said he believes crypto markets have bottomed. Barack compared the current setup with the emergence from bear markets in 2020 and 2023, when he said major positive price re-ratings occurred.