Hedge fund Karatage introduces IMC veteran Shane O’Callaghan, betting on the next institutional wave of digital assets

London-based proprietary hedge fund Karatage announced the official appointment of Shane O’Callaghan as Senior Partner and Head of Institutional Strategy. This personnel change is seen as an important signal that Karatage is accelerating its institutionalization efforts and strengthening its digital asset investment capabilities.

Karatage is a hedge fund focused on digital assets and emerging technologies, founded in 2017, during the early stages of institutional capital beginning to explore the crypto market. Over the years, the fund has remained active across multiple market cycles, with investments spanning liquidity crypto assets, native crypto funds, and companies providing infrastructure, products, and services for the blockchain economy.

Before joining Karatage, Shane O’Callaghan worked at the well-known Dutch market maker IMC Trading, serving as Global Head of Institutional Partnerships and Digital Asset Sales. During his time at IMC, he was mainly responsible for institutional client relationships and expanding digital asset-related business, with deep cross-experience in traditional finance and crypto markets.

Earlier, O’Callaghan served as Global Business Development Director at cryptocurrency trading firm Portofino Technologies and was Head of Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) at the now-bankrupt crypto lending platform BlockFi. These experiences have given him extensive expertise in institutional crypto trading, market making, risk management, and cross-regional expansion.

Marius Barnett, Co-Founder and CEO of Karatage, stated that O’Callaghan’s addition was not a “safety choice,” but rather a recognition of his ability to build institutional-grade platforms in high-intensity, rapidly expanding environments. He pointed out that Karatage’s goal is not moderate growth but to establish a dominant influence in the digital asset and blockchain investment space.

From an investment strategy perspective, Karatage is known for thematic investing, focusing on technological directions believed to have a structural impact on the financial system and macroeconomy, including blockchain networks, DeFi ecosystems, and related financial services. The fund is especially skilled at combining liquidity token investments with long-term equity investments in crypto companies and fund managers.

O’Callaghan responded to his appointment by stating that Karatage’s unique advantages in proprietary capital strength, technological depth, and long-term strategic vision are precisely what the current digital asset market urgently needs. He emphasized that future efforts will focus on driving Karatage’s global institutional expansion and deepening cooperation with traditional financial institutions.

In the context of institutional capital reassessing the crypto market, this executive appointment is interpreted by the market as Karatage’s early layout for the next wave of digital asset institutionalization.