Meet Ria Bhutoria: The Researcher-in-Chief in Crypto Realm

• Profile: Mrinalini Ria Bhutoria, Crypto Researcher and Investor
• Career Highlights and Influence
• The Journey to Castle Island Ventures
• Circle Research and Beyond
• Early Career and Personal Projects
• From NYC to Crypto Space
• Co-founding Komorebi DAO
• Her Vision for Cryptocurrency

Profile: Mrinalini Ria Bhutoria, Crypto Researcher and Investor

Recognized as a skilled researcher in the field of cryptocurrency, Mrinalini Ria Bhutoria has dedicated her career to the exploration and investment in Web3. Her public handle, riasearch.eth, mirrors her dedication to her role. Currently, Bhutoria holds a significant position as a partner at Castle Island Ventures, where she identifies potential investments ranging from smaller components like wallets to the foundational infrastructure that powers Web3.

Career Highlights and Influence

The Journey to Castle Island Ventures

Prior to her role at Castle Island, Bhutoria was an analyst within and beyond the sphere of Wall Street. Her reputation in the crypto community was established during her tenure as the director of research at Fidelity Digital Assets. This crypto branch of the mammoth $4.5 trillion asset manager was one of the early adopters of Bitcoin$42,260 -0.64% (BTC). Interestingly, Bhutoria inherited this significant position from her current Castle Island colleague, Nic Carter, who was the first dedicated Bitcoin analyst at Fidelity.

Circle Research and Beyond

Before her stint at Fidelity, Bhutoria served as a senior analyst at Circle Research. Notably, she regularly penned weekly summaries about the state of the industry. Occasionally, she also authored in-depth reports that explored nuanced subjects such as zero-knowledge technology and multi-party computation, even before these topics gained widespread popularity. Bhutoria continues to write; recently, she authored an insightful essay titled Reviving Trust in Crypto. This piece examines the core distinctions between traditional finance (TradFi) and the crypto industry and outlines steps towards restoring credibility in the latter.

Early Career and Personal Projects

From NYC to Crypto Space

The New York-based researcher originally hails from Kolkata, India. Bhutoria first entered the finance industry as an equity research analyst at Credit Suisse, after completing her studies in finance and economics at New York University's Stern School of Business.

Co-founding Komorebi DAO

In 2021, Bhutoria took a significant step in the Web3 space by co-founding a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) named Komorebi. This DAO has supported female and nonbinary Web3 founders by investing at least $500,000 in their projects.

Her Vision for Cryptocurrency

Reflecting on the future of the crypto industry, Bhutoria has stated, If we return to the core values that united us in the first place, I believe the original vision of crypto can be realized. Her work and insights continue to influence the space and shape its trajectory.

Edited by Jonathan Stoker