AlphaPoint raises $15M Series A from Novogratz's Galaxy Digital to help build cryptoasset exchanges and digitize assets like gold and real estate via blockchain
Michael del Castillo / Forbes :
Context & Ripple Effects
AlphaPoint's $15M Series A is an early move in what became Mike Novogratz's merchant-bank strategy at Galaxy Digital: rather than picking one crypto vertical, the firm seeded infrastructure across the stack — exchanges and asset digitization here, then a $52.5M round into crypto lender BlockFi weeks later, and a $58.5M Series B into wallet maker BitGo that fall alongside Goldman Sachs.
The through-line is tokenization of traditional assets — gold, real estate — which puts AlphaPoint squarely in the Novogratz thesis of bridging Wall Street capital into crypto markets. The FT profile later framed Galaxy as having raised $242M on Toronto's Venture Exchange to fund exactly this kind of startup portfolio.
First-order effects
- AlphaPoint gains capital and a marquee backer to build cryptoasset exchange technology and digitize assets like gold and real estate on blockchains, with Galaxy Digital taking a direct stake in the tokenization layer.
Second-order effects
- Galaxy's parallel bets on BlockFi (lending) and BitGo (custody wallets) mean its portfolio companies can interlock — exchange rails, credit, and secure storage sold as one stack to institutions — while Goldman's presence in the BitGo round pressures other banks to take crypto infrastructure positions rather than wait.
Third-order effects
- If tokenization platforms like AlphaPoint mature, the boundary between traditional asset classes and crypto markets blurs structurally — exchanges become venues for digitized gold and property, and merchant banks like Galaxy consolidate the infrastructure layer the way earlier bank holding companies consolidated payments.
The trend: Crypto venture capital in 2018 shifted from speculative tokens to picks-and-shovels infrastructure — exchanges, custody, lending, and asset tokenization — with merchant banks like Galaxy Digital assembling full-stack portfolios.