Nas Could Earn $100 Million From Cryptocurrency Investment
Nas' investment firm became an early backer of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase back in 2013.
On Wednesday, the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will make its initial public offering on the Nasdaq. The company is expected to be valued at over $100 billion when its $COIN stock debuts. A number of angel investors, including legendary rapper Nas, are set to see a major profit upon its listing. Nas' QueensBridge Venture Partners got involved with Coinbase in its Series B round of fundraising in 2013.
At the time, Coinbase was valued at about $143 million. With valuation over $100 billion, the company's value has grown nearly 70,000 percent in eight years. According to Nas' QueensBridge Venture Partners co-founder Anthony Saleh, the group made early-stage investments between the amounts of $100,000 and $500,000. After a bit of market math, that investment would put them within the range of $34 and $173 million of profit.
"I was thinking [$300 billion]!," Saleh wrote on Twitter in response to a journalist's prediction that Coinbase would receive a $200 billion valuation from NASDAQ.
QueensBridge also invested early on the stock exchange app Robinhood, as well as FanDuel, Dapper Labs (the team responsible for NBA Top Shot), ride-share app Lyft and storage app Dropbox. Additionally, the group reportedly pulled in about $40 million when Amazon acquired the doorbell camera company Ring. Jones' friendship with Ben Horowitz, co-founder of venture giant Andreessen Horowitz--one of Coinbase's main backers--led to the lucrative deal.
Stay tuned for further updates on Nas and his lucrative business ventures. Stream his Grammy-winning album with Hit-Boy, King's Disease, on all major digital streaming platforms.