It has been no secret that we have been actively researching and pursuing blockchain companies, particularly those in the Ethereum ecosystem. A few months ago, I wrote that 2017 could finally be the year when cryptocurrencies start delivering on the huge potential that many have been predicting for a long time.

Bitcoin, and the underlying blockchain technology, never developed a strong use case besides storing value. But with Ethereum, we’re seeing something new. Ethereum has elevated Bitcoin’s idea into a distributed world computer. We’re seeing new use cases, such as decentralized storage, decentralized prediction markets, and the ability to monetize software/open source. And, the true implications and potential of this platform are still largely unknown.

If there’s any question about the potential of Ethereum, take a look at Fred Wilson’s interesting post, “The Decentralized Startups” where he charts Ethereum’s rapid growth from zero to a $3.4B market cap in under two years.

This is why we are thrilled to announce our latest investment, Citizen Hex. The company is centered around acquiring, securing, and trading ERC-20 tokens – and will help accelerate the ecosystem by increasing liquidity.

Among Citizen Hex’s solutions are a proprietary tool for token acquisition and decentralized trading – think high frequency trading on the blockchain. They are also building the world’s most secure, cold, warm, and hot wallet solutions for token storage, as well as new tools to provide token liquidity on decentralized exchanges.

The team behind Citizen Hex – led by Ben Roberts and Brett Bergmann – came out of the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL). The two have been building crypto-projects on the side for a long time now and we’re so excited to officially welcome them to the Version One family.

P.S.: Citizen Hex is hiring!