When I saw this headline I firstly had to understand what was meant by the word protocol in this context! It means the ‘plumbing’, ‘electrical cables’, ‘foundations’ upon which applications are built.
In the internet world, most people don’t care or know about protocols. Protocols are essentially invisible, they include the Transmission Control Protocol and the Internet Protocol. These were developed/funded by the US Government (Department of Defence). It has not really been possible to invest directly in internet protocols, the investment opportunity has been in the applications, such as Twitter, Facebook, Google etc.
In the blockchain world, the development of protocols has only just begun and it is possible to invest directly in their creation. So imagine owning the ‘electrical cable’ upon which Twitter, Facebook and Google are built!
In December 2016, a new hedge fund, Polychain Capital, raised USD 10m from two of the most respected silicon valley hedge funds. Polychain Capital will invest exclusively in crypto currency tokens.