Pantera Capital has had a thesis of investing into local exchanges since the inception of its venture capital fund. Local exchanges have an advantage of a local team who understands the culture and marketing of a specific geography in addition to having the relationships for banking and regulations. In June 2014, Pantera investigated and became the lead US investor in the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Korea, Korbit. Korea was a compelling geography for a local exchange investment because of the country’s familiarity with virtual currencies, becoming one of the first countries to adopt them for gaming, having a government that is pro-innovation, having a large mobile ecosystem.