Other People's Money with Max Wiethe This Hedge Fund Trying to Become the Top Pod Shop in Crypto is Rethinking the Multi-Manager Hedge Fund Model | Anatoly Crachilov of Nickel Digital
Nov 4, 2025
Anatoly Crachilov, CEO and Co-Founder of Nickel Digital Asset Management, dives into the innovative multi-manager model revolutionizing crypto hedge funds. He shares insights on avoiding a central book to enhance pod performance, discusses the advantages of crypto's unique fractionality for low-cost strategy testing, and explains Nickel's collaborative approach to sourcing external talent. Crachilov also reveals how recent market challenges helped filter strong managers, emphasizing rigorous risk management and the evolution of institutional interest in crypto investments.
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Multi-Manager Structure Reduces Concentration Risk
- Multi-manager funds reduce single-manager concentration risk by diversifying across teams and strategies.
- Nickel moved to a pure multi-manager vehicle to avoid internal conflicts and improve allocator outcomes.
Build Tech First To Scale Pods
- Invest heavily in in-house execution and risk systems to scale a multi-manager crypto platform.
- Nickel built tech and risk teams to handle hundreds of pods and market dislocations.
Validate With Small Live Tests
- Start new managers on a very small live allocation and monitor real trading before scaling.
- Nickel uses $100k test sub-accounts and watches thousands of trades over months before increasing capital.