Core Insights - A $100,000 investment in a crypto venture capital fund has decreased to $56,000 over four years, despite Bitcoin's value doubling and seed-stage tokens increasing by up to 75 times [1][2][3] Fund Performance and Fees - The investment director at Maelstrom highlighted the fund's significant underperformance, with a reported loss of 44% in value over four years, while the broader digital asset market experienced growth [2][3] - The fund charged 3% annual management fees and 30% performance fees, raising concerns about the transparency of fee structures in crypto VC funds [2] Comparison to Market Benchmarks - Bitcoin's value doubled, and seed deals yielded returns between 20 to 75 times the initial investment during the same period, indicating that the fund's performance was notably below market benchmarks [3] - The fund's capital account statement showed a year-to-date net rate of return of negative 6.08%, further emphasizing the underperformance [4] Reporting Practices - The fund switched from since-inception reporting to period-over-period performance reporting, which may obscure the sustained underperformance of the investment [4]