Brock Pierce, the crypto billionaire, economist and philanthropist serving as chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, has joined Jeremy Gardner’s psychedelics-focused venture fund Mystic Ventures as a general partner, Benzinga has learned exclusively.
Pierce And Gardner
Pierce, the co-founder of EOS Alliance, Block.one, Blockchain Capital, Tether (CRYPTO: USDT) and Mastercoin, has been a long-time supporter of MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. He is also a pre-IPO investor in ATAI Life Sciences (NASDAQ:ATAI), a Germany-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on psychedelics, and an investor in Filament Health (OTC:FLHLF), a Canada-based clinical-stage natural psychedelic development company. In other words, Pierce is no newbie to the psychedelics space.
“The industry is barely in its infancy. However, the potential reward to humanity, mental health, and those who get in on the ground floor, is immeasurable,” Pierce told Benzinga.
“I've been an advocate of psychedelic research for some time, and there is now overwhelming evidence of the benefits of medicines like psilocybin, ketamine, MDMA, and many others (…) for depression, anxiety and addiction,” he added.
Jeremy Gardner, the managing partner and founder of Mystic Ventures, also stems from the crypto world. He is the founder of the Blockchain Education Network, and co-founder of Augur, the world’s first Utility Token and first ICO on Ethereum.
What’s Mystic Ventures?
Mystic Ventures is an AngelList Ventures fund focused on the medicinal applications of psychedelics. It functions like a biotech venture fund, oriented towards scientific breakthroughs and new applications of promising therapeutics and plant medicines.
Mystic is dedicated to driving these advanced research and development teams, often from pharmaceutical companies and top research universities, to develop cost-effective solutions that are less exploitive, addictive, and focused on holistic healing rather than ongoing treatment. Mystic and its portfolio companies are working to make psychedelic medicines and therapies mainstream.
“The investment opportunity in terms of growth potential may be higher than in any other emerging market,” Pierce told Benzinga.
Mystic Ventures is a rolling fund on AngelList Ventures. It's a standard 2:20 (management/carry) with a $25,000 minimum quarterly ticket size for a commitment of 8 quarters.
The fund’s investments range from AI-powered drug discovery to the development of new treatments, as well as far-ranging startups such as a breathwork app and a biofeedback-powered haptic sound startup.
“We've already identified the leaders in the space who are paving the way in this noble fight for mental health and expanding human consciousness,” said Pierce.
And he added, “There are only 49 subscription spots remaining in the fund, and we expect the remaining spots to fill up quickly after our partnership is announced during Jeremy’s keynote, which I will join at Microdose, a leading psychedelic conference hosted in Miami.”
Change Is Coming
In conversation with Benzinga, the blockchain pioneer assured change is coming when it comes to psychedelic medicine.
“We are now seeing the scales fall from the eyes of the regulators and healthcare industry as legalization and decriminalization appear on the horizon. Joe Biden signaled this month that cannabis would be rescheduled, and there’s strong evidence to believe that MDMA and psilocybin are soon to follow,” Pierce voiced.
“America is experiencing an unprecedented opioid epidemic. Psychedelic therapy offers a solution to this ongoing crisis by helping people heal and recover from addiction and the mental health issues underlying it,” he concluded.
Photo via WikiMedia Commons edited by Javier Hasse.
