Bitcoin.com, the firm backed by cryptocurrency investor Roger Ver, is planning to set up a $200 million investment fund to boost bitcoin cash (BCH) adoption.

The fund, dubbed “BCH Ecosystem Investment Fund,” will invest in and incubate payment-related startups that utilize the BCH blockchain and BCH, the world’s fourth-largest cryptocurrency at present. The fund is targeting businesses like payment gateways, remittance processors and wallets, according to an announcement Wednesday.

“Bitcoin.com receives between 6 to 8 business plans every day from software entrepreneurs leveraging the unique features and capabilities of the Bitcoin Cash blockchain. Bitcoin.com now has the resources and team to support these BCH entrepreneurs, grow the value of their businesses and spread bitcoin cash adoption,” said Bitcoin.com CEO Stefan Rust, who took over the role in August from Roger Ver, who then moved on to the role of executive chairman.







No concrete details yet

The firm is yet to finalize details of the fund but said it will allow other institutional investors to join it. Projects, looking to get investment via the fund, will “very soon” be able to submit their business plans to Bitcoin.com via a “dedicated landing page.”

Rust has identified up to 20 institutional investors who satisfy “stringent” due diligence requirements, per the announcement. Bitcoin.com said it would charge a fee helping institutional investors manage the fund, on top of the fees to access the underlying payment businesses.

“There is so much great infrastructure and businesses being built in the Bitcoin Cash ecosystem every day. Bitcoin.com is going to accelerate the development with our million-dollar ecosystem investment fund,” said Ver.







Several initiatives

Bitcoin.com has recently taken a number of initiatives to grow the BCH ecosystem. Last month, the firm acquired Japanese blockchain development startup O3 Labs to build financial services mobile apps using the BCH network.

Rust said at the time that Bitcoin.com aims to give users "the ability to manage, grow, and spend [money] ... without the need for traditional banks or financial intermediaries” via these apps.

Bitcoin.com also recently launched a cryptocurrency exchange and was also preparing to launch futures contracts for BCH on a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated exchange.

In Wednesday’s announcement, the firm said the BCH futures contract could launch by the first quarter of 2020.