Karatage, a leading London-based proprietary hedge fund specializing in digital assets and emerging technology, has appointed Shane O’Callaghan as senior partner and head of institutional strategy.
O’Callaghan joins from Dutch market maker IMC Trading, where he was employed as global head of institutional partnerships and digital asset sales for the past year.
Before joining IMC, O’Callaghan worked at crypto trading platform Portofino Technologies as global head of business development and also as head of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for now-defunct crypto lender BlockFi.
“Shane didn’t join because it was safe. He joined because the opportunity is rare — to build something bold, aggressive and truly disruptive from the inside out,” Marius Barnett, co-founder and CEO of Karatage, said in emailed comments. “He is stepping away from elite roles to help us execute at a higher level, move faster and raise the bar across everything we do.”
Karatage is a hedge fund that invests across digital assets, crypto-native investment funds and companies that build infrastructure, products or services for the blockchain economy. Founded in 2017, the company emerged during the early growth of institutional investment in digital assets and has remained active through several market cycles.
“At Karatage, we’re not interested in incremental growth or polite ambition. We’re here to create a dominant force – and Shane significantly enhances our ability to do just that. This is the beginning of a much bigger chapter,” Barnett added.
The fund typically takes a thematic approach, supporting technologies and companies it believes can have a structural impact on finance and the wider economy, including blockchain networks, decentralized finance (DeFi) and related services.
Karatage is known for combining liquid token investments with long-term bets on companies and executives operating in the crypto space.
“The company’s unique blend of proprietary capital, technical depth and strategic vision is exactly what the market requires today,” O’Callaghan said in emailed comments. “I am excited to join Marius, Stephen and the entire team to help drive the firm’s next phase of global institutional expansion,” he added.
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