Bermuda-based investment manager Qapture Investments has acquired the on-chain yield strategies and operational infrastructure of Halifax-based Hermetik Trading Technologies Inc. and named Hermetik founder Brendan MacNeil the Head of Decentralized Finance.

The parties announced the deal in a press release last week but did not release financial details.

MacNeil launched Hermetik three years ago with the backing of Saint John-based investment group East Valley Ventures. The company specializes in on-chain yield strategies, which plot the best way to develop stable income streams from notoriously volatile cryptocurrencies, such as lending them out and collecting interest.

MacNeil will join Qapture and work with its founder Frederick Pye, who previously led Montreal-based 3iQ Corp, which is best known as the first Canadian crypto fund to list publicly. Pye exited 3iQ in 2023 when it was acquired by Monex Group, Inc. of Japan. He now operates a family office, whose digital asset management arm is Qapture.

MacNeil has about a decade of experience in the digital asset sector and received support in growing his company from Propel and Versos AI CEO Chris Keevill. At Qapture, he will oversee strategies involving yield optimization, risk management and automated execution.

“Digital assets are going through a generational inflection point – evolving from speculation to sophisticated asset management strategies,” MacNeil said in a release. “Combined with Hermetik’s on-chain yield strategies, there is a real opportunity here to capture the institutional transition from traditional to on-chain markets.”

The Hermetik acquisition complements Qapture’s existing eight-year track record in directional digital asset strategies. Daniel Pye, Qapture’s president and chief operating officer, said the addition of MacNeil and the Hermetik technology would allow the company to offer strategies across a wider range of risk profiles.

Hermetik employed five people and three of them, including MacNeil, are based in Halifax.

Qapture also announced the acquisition of Flammarion Partners Ltd., a British Virgin Islands Approved Manager. The company has been renamed Qapture Investments (BVI) Ltd. and will serve as investment manager for Qapture’s Bermuda-domiciled funds and separately managed accounts.

The BVI Financial Services Commission’s Approved Manager regime allows Qapture to manage professional funds and discretionary managed accounts with aggregate assets of up to US$400 million. The company said the structure complements its Bermuda private fund as it works toward obtaining an investment-business licence from the Bermuda Monetary Authority.

Qapture said its longer-term goal is to build an investment management platform capable of offering institutional investors a range of on-chain strategies as digital assets become more integrated into traditional financial markets.