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Bloq
Bloq opened its doors in Chicago during 2016, launched by blockchain entrepreneur Matt Roszak and veteran open-source developer Jeff Garzik.
Bloq
Bloq opened its doors in Chicago during 2016, launched by blockchain entrepreneur Matt Roszak and veteran open-source developer Jeff Garzik. Roszak brought an investment lens refined through founding Tally Capital, one of the earliest venture funds focused on digital assets, while Garzik contributed the technical authority of someone who spent years maintaining Bitcoin's core infrastructure. The firm was conceived not as a pure hedge fund but as an integrated technology company that would build the pipes for enterprise blockchain adoption and invest around those same rails. The organization's strategy fuses venture investing with software product development. On the venture side, Bloq makes early-stage token and equity bets across the proof-of-work and proof-of-stake landscapes; its disclosed historical portfolio includes high-profile names like Blockstream, Bitfury, and Coinbase (per public record). The software division produces metering, connectivity, and management tools for decentralized networks, serving clients ranging from mining pools to financial institutions evaluating proof-of-stake participation. Geographically, the firm's investments and protocols reach global node operators, though the operational footprint remains concentrated in North America. Garzik and Roszak operate adjacent vehicles that extend the firm's influence. Garzik's work with SpaceChain and his role in maintaining the Bloq-owned fork Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 300/301, known as Drivechain, point to an R&D focus on sidechains and interoperability. Roszak, simultaneously, runs Tally Capital, invested in early-stage tokens and equity since 2013, creating a network that informs Bloq's deal flow. In November 2023, Bloq announced that its subsidiary Vesper Finance, a DeFi yield aggregation protocol originally incubated by the firm, would sunset its operations — a decision that reallocated engineering resources toward core infrastructure products (per the firm's official communications). Bloq's structural differentiator is the unusual depth of its technical authorship combined with investment activity. The vast majority of crypto investment firms consume open-source software; Bloq's co-founder actively authors the protocol-level code that upgrades chains like Bitcoin. This dual role — market participant and infrastructure maintainer — provides a sourcing and diligence advantage but also creates a governance complexity that a purely financial firm never faces. Whether that edge sustains as blockchain infrastructure matures and competing giants like Consensys and Figure build more institutional capital partnerships remains the open question shaping Bloq's trajectory.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2016
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Chicago
Corporate office
Chicago, IL, United States
Principals
Matt Roszak
Co-founder and Chairman
Jeff Garzik
Co-founder and CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Bloq?
Investment decisions are led by Co-founder and Chairman Matt Roszak, who also runs the early-stage digital asset venture firm Tally Capital. Roszak has been investing in blockchain companies since 2013, making him one of the longest-tenured institutional allocators in crypto. Co-founder Jeff Garzik focuses on technical architecture and open-source contributions that inform the firm's strategic capital allocation.
Is Bloq structured as a venture firm, a developer, or an asset manager?
Bloq operates as a hybrid: it functions as an enterprise blockchain software company that also makes venture-stage equity and token investments. The firm generates revenue from software licensing and infrastructure management, distinct from a pure venture firm that relies only on portfolio appreciation. This structure means the investment arm benefits from the technical intelligence generated by the software business.
What is Bloq's relationship to the Bitcoin protocol?
Co-founder and CEO Jeff Garzik served as one of the earliest Bitcoin Core developers after Satoshi Nakamoto's departure and is a recognized figure in the protocol's history. Bloq continues to contribute to open-source blockchain development, most notably through Garzik's ongoing advocacy and authorship of the Drivechain sidechain proposal (BIP 300/301). This technical lineage gives the firm a distinct voice in Bitcoin governance discussions.
How does Bloq source proprietary deal flow?
The firm's deal flow benefits from the combined networks of its co-founders: Roszak's Tally Capital portfolio and Garzik's open-source developer relationships across multiple blockchains. Additionally, Bloq's incubated projects and the tools it builds for node operators surface early teams seeking both capital and infrastructure support. This pipeline relies on technical reputation rather than traditional placement-agent or banker-driven sourcing.
Does Bloq participate in token investments and traditional equity deals or just one?
Bloq pursues both. The venture book includes early-stage equity in infrastructure companies like Blockstream and Bitfury alongside token investments in decentralized protocols. The firm does not publicly segregate the two categories in a single reported AUM figure, but both asset types have appeared in its historical investment activity.
What happened to Vesper Finance, the DeFi protocol Bloq incubated?
Vesper Finance, a yield aggregation protocol that Bloq incubated in 2020, was officially wound down in November 2023. The decision was described as a reallocation of engineering talent toward the firm's core infrastructure products. The wind-down reflected Bloq's recalibrated emphasis on building the underlying rails for institutional blockchain use cases rather than competing in consumer-facing DeFi applications.
How is Bloq related to Tally Capital?
Tally Capital is Matt Roszak's private venture capital vehicle, launched in 2013 and focused exclusively on blockchain and digital asset investments. Tally Capital and Bloq share Roszak as a principal, and the deal flow and thesis development across the two entities are complementary, but they maintain separate legal and investment structures. Public communications from Tally Capital are sparse, reflecting a low-profile, family-office-style operating model.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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