Whoa. ConsenSys is launching a $50M venture fund for blockchain startups

In what could be a huge development for the blockchain ecosystem, Bushwick’s ConsenSys will start a $50 million venture fund for blockchain startups, the International Business Times is reporting.

The size of the fund would make it instantly the largest venture fund in Brooklyn, multiples higher than seed funds Brooklyn Bridge Ventures and the Blue Seed Collective.

The fund will be led by Kavita Gupta, who has previously worked for the World Bank.

In a year that has seen the price of Ether, the token of the Ethereum blockchain that ConsenSys runs on and its founder Joseph Lubin helped create, rise from close to $0 to over $300, the growth of ConsenSys has been similarly explosive. The company’s jobs page has dozens of listings for positions here in Brooklyn but also in San Francisco, London and Dubai.

The announcement of the venture fund comes soon after the creation of the ConsenSys Academy, a coding program for young programmers to learn how to code on the blockchain, which could prove a useful labor funnel to future portfolio companies.

In January, we ranked ConsenSys at No. 5 on our list of top Brooklyn startups to watch for 2017. Good call by us.