Joe Naggar, a veteran investment professional who spent nearly two decades at one of the world’s leading credit-focused investment firms, is embarking on a new chapter in his career by launching an independent hedge fund dedicated to digital assets and emerging technologies. The launch of Feynman Point Asset Management marks the formal separation of Naggar’s investment team from Republic, a New York-based investment firm, and represents a significant milestone in the evolution of institutional cryptocurrency investment management.
From Traditional Credit to Digital Assets
Naggar’s journey to launching an independent crypto-focused hedge fund reflects the broader evolution of institutional finance’s relationship with digital assets. He spent 16 years at GoldenTree Asset Management, the prominent investment firm founded by Steven Tananbaum, where he rose to partner and helped oversee the firm’s substantial $61 billion in credit assets. This extensive experience in traditional fixed income and credit markets provided Naggar with a rigorous framework for risk management and investment analysis that would later inform his approach to cryptocurrency markets.
Despite his success in traditional finance, Naggar developed an early interest in cryptocurrencies that predated most institutional involvement in the space. He began mining Bitcoin in 2013, during the cryptocurrency’s early years when such activity was still primarily the domain of technology enthusiasts and early adopters rather than professional investors. This hands-on experience gave Naggar direct exposure to the technical and operational aspects of blockchain technology, complementing his sophisticated understanding of financial markets.
Naggar’s conviction in the potential of digital assets led him to make early investments in several blockchain projects that would later become significant players in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. His investment portfolio included Stacks, a Bitcoin layer that enables smart contracts and decentralized applications on the Bitcoin blockchain, and Algorand, a proof-of-stake blockchain platform designed for scalability and efficiency. Perhaps most notably, he invested in Coinbase before it became the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States and a publicly traded company, demonstrating his ability to identify promising ventures in the digital asset space.
Building a Crypto Practice at GoldenTree
In 2022, recognizing the growing institutional interest in digital assets and believing that his macro-informed investment approach and institutional-grade risk management practices could succeed in cryptocurrency markets, Naggar began assembling a dedicated digital assets team within GoldenTree Asset Management. This initiative represented GoldenTree’s entry into the cryptocurrency investment space, applying the firm’s disciplined credit analysis and risk management methodologies to digital asset markets.
However, the timing of this venture coincided with one of the most turbulent periods in cryptocurrency market history. A cascading series of high-profile collapses rocked the industry, undermining confidence and triggering intensified regulatory scrutiny. Celsius Network, a cryptocurrency lending platform that had attracted billions in customer deposits, collapsed amid liquidity problems and allegations of mismanagement. Voyager Digital, another major cryptocurrency lending platform, filed for bankruptcy protection. Most dramatically, FTX, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges led by the once-celebrated Sam Bankman-Fried, imploded in spectacular fashion amid revelations of massive fraud and misappropriation of customer funds.
These collapses triggered a regulatory crackdown across multiple jurisdictions as authorities sought to protect investors and establish clearer frameworks for cryptocurrency businesses. The changing regulatory landscape and market conditions prompted GoldenTree to reassess its digital asset strategy. Less than two years after establishing the crypto-focused fund, GoldenTree sold the fledgling operation to Republic, a New York-based investment firm with existing interests in blockchain and digital asset investments.
Operating Under Republic and Now Going Independent
Following the acquisition by Republic, Naggar and his team continued their investment activities under the banner of Republic Digital. This arrangement allowed the team to maintain continuity in their investment strategy and client relationships while benefiting from Republic’s infrastructure and market presence. However, the team has now decided to pursue complete independence, rebranding as Feynman Point Asset Management.
The name “Feynman Point” is a reference to a mathematical curiosity in the decimal representation of pi, where six consecutive nines appear beginning at the 762nd decimal place. This naming choice reflects the team’s appreciation for mathematics, precision, and the unexpected patterns that can emerge from complex systems—themes that resonate with both quantitative finance and blockchain technology.
Naggar emphasized that the transition to independence does not represent a departure from the team’s established investment philosophy or operational approach. “We’re going to keep doing exactly what we did before—same focus on process, performance, institutional quality, but do even more,” he explained. The independence allows the team greater flexibility to pursue investment opportunities and structure products tailored to their investment theses.
One example of this expanded capability is the Feynman Point Special Opportunities Fund, a vehicle created to provide the firm’s limited partners with the opportunity to co-participate in some of the team’s highest-conviction investment ideas. This structure reflects common practice in alternative investment management, where general partners create special purpose vehicles for particularly attractive or unique opportunities that may not fit within the mandate or capacity constraints of the main fund.
Strong Performance Through Market Volatility
Despite operating through multiple organizational transitions and one of the most volatile periods in cryptocurrency market history, Naggar’s investment strategy has delivered impressive returns for investors. The fund launches with $300 million under management, and its backers have reason to be satisfied with the performance to date.
According to data provided by Feynman Point, investors in the fund—including L1D, a $600 million Swiss investment fund, and the New York-based Blockchain Investment Group—have earned an annualized net return exceeding 42 percent since the fund’s inception in 2022. This performance is particularly noteworthy given that the period encompassed the severe crypto winter of 2022, when Bitcoin and most other cryptocurrencies experienced dramatic price declines, as well as the subsequent recovery and bull market that has characterized 2024 and 2025.
The fund’s success stems from several notable investment positions that demonstrated both market insight and sophisticated understanding of cryptocurrency market structure. One particularly successful trade involved purchasing shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, known by its ticker GBTC, at a substantial 40 percent discount to the value of its underlying Bitcoin holdings. For years, GBTC traded at a premium to its net asset value because it was the only accessible way for many institutional and retail investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin through traditional brokerage accounts. However, when that premium turned into a discount amid changing market conditions, Naggar’s team recognized the opportunity and accumulated positions that eventually converged to net asset value when GBTC converted to an exchange-traded fund format.
Another winning position involved early exposure to Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange that has emerged as one of the breakout success stories in decentralized finance. Naggar’s team made what he describes as “a large investment” in Hyperliquid’s HYPE token at the time of its launch in November 2024. The token now trades around $40 with a market capitalization exceeding $10 billion, representing substantial appreciation from the team’s entry point.
The fund also made an equity investment in Ripple, the company behind the XRP cryptocurrency, which has proven highly profitable. Ripple’s stock has surged 162 percent since January and is now valued at $22.1 billion in private markets, according to data from Forge, a platform that facilitates trading in private company shares. This appreciation has been driven in large part by the resolution of Ripple’s five-year legal battle with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, which had created significant uncertainty about the regulatory status of XRP and Ripple’s business operations.
Digital Asset Treasury Trend
Beyond direct cryptocurrency investments and equity positions in crypto companies, Naggar has been an active participant in what he identifies as the growing digital asset treasury trend. This phenomenon, pioneered and popularized by Michael Saylor’s Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), involves publicly traded companies using their balance sheets to accumulate significant cryptocurrency holdings, primarily Bitcoin.
Naggar explains that his fund has invested in approximately 15 to 17 different digital asset treasury companies, with position sizes typically ranging from 30 to 75 basis points of the portfolio, with larger positions reaching about 1 percent. This diversified approach to the digital asset treasury theme reflects both conviction in the broader trend and prudent risk management through position sizing.
The fund’s digital asset treasury investments span a range of companies and approaches. Holdings include BitMine Immersion Technologies, chaired by prominent market strategist Tom Lee, founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors; SharpLink Gaming, associated with Joe Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and founder of ConsenSys; Twenty One Capital, which has backing from Cantor Fitzgerald; and Forward Industries, connected to Kyle Samani, co-founder of Multicoin Capital.
Among these investments, Naggar particularly highlights Sonnet BioTherapeutics, which is expected to become Hyperliquid Strategies later this year upon completion of its merger with Rorschach I LLC. The company recently announced an $888 million fundraising specifically for purchasing Hyperliquid’s HYPE tokens. Naggar views this vehicle as particularly valuable because Hyperliquid’s exchange is not accessible to United States-based retail investors due to regulatory restrictions, making the public company wrapper an important access point for U.S. investors seeking exposure to Hyperliquid’s ecosystem.
“It’s very difficult to have exposure to Hyperliquid as a U.S. investor, but this one brings access,” Naggar explains. He acknowledges that the digital asset treasury landscape includes companies of varying quality and legitimacy. “Some DATs are kind of money grabs and maybe don’t deserve the attention, but there are others that add some real value, either in the ecosystem or for investors, by doing smart stuff.”
This nuanced view reflects Naggar’s sophisticated approach to the sector, recognizing both the genuine innovation and investment opportunities alongside the inevitable opportunism that accompanies any rapidly growing investment trend. As Feynman Point Asset Management begins its independent operations with $300 million under management and a track record of strong performance, Naggar and his team are positioned to continue applying institutional-quality investment processes to the evolving digital asset landscape.
Acknowledgment: This article was written with the help of AI, which also assisted in research, drafting, editing, and formatting this current version
