Former ConsenSys Capital head leaves for a fund that plans to squeeze more alpha out of Web3 protocols

Andrew Keys, an original ConsenSys executive and Co-founder of ConsenSys Capital, has announced in a blog post that he's left the company to join DARMA Capital as a Managing Partner. Keys intends to remain on the advisory board at Consensys, where he'll look to act in a business development role where appropriate.

Launched earlier this year, DARMA Capital is an investment firm managed by James Slazas, a former head of capital markets at ConsenSys, and John Slazas, formerly with quant analytics trading group JS Services.

The fund's flagship product is the so-called DARMA Optimized Long-ETH Fund (DOL-ETH), a long-biased fund that takes contributions in ether with the aim of outperforming a simple buy-hold position with an active investment strategy. Since launching in late February, the ETH-DOL fund now counts over $100 million in ether under management.

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Keys told The Block that DARMA's first corporate treasury risk management client will be ConsenSys, with the fund set to manage a portion of the ConsenSys ether treasury. DARMA also intends to leverage ConsenSys software products such as OpenLaw and Alethio.

“When you look at all the other players out there, the service providers we’ve put together, registered with CFTC and taking that next step, this is what’s proper to bring a fund to the market. [I’ve] been involved in capital markets for 30+ years, [my brother, a co-founder] has quant trading analysis for 35+ years, this is nothing new for us. The performance will speak for itself,” Slazas told The Block.

DARMA is registered with the CFTC as a CTA (commodity trading advisor) and is a member of the National Futures Association. The fund intends to launch a bitcoin optimized long fund, with the goal of $10 million in capital committed by the end of July, according to Keys. 

About Author

Ryan Todd is a research analyst at The Block where he focuses on the convergence of fintech and digital assets. Previously he worked at Deutsche Bank as an equity analyst covering consumer finance and payments companies, and also spent time at ConsenSys exploring the broader Ethereum ecosystem. Ryan holds a BS in Economics and Accounting/Finance from Florida State University, and MS Finance from Vanderbilt University.