Bryce Masters seeks investors for his blockchain startup

Influential financial mogul Bryce Masters is struggling to find investors for her blockchain startup, Digital Asset Holdings, according to a report in the New York Times.

NewsBTC.com, a bitcoin news website , reported earlier that Bryce hopes to raise $35 million for her blockchain startup by Christmas from major investment groups including JPMorgan Chase, where she worked for 27 years, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Santander, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Nasdaq.

According to the New York Times, major financial institutions including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup expressed anger that the digital asset investment company offered better deal terms to Bryce's former employer, JPMorgan Chase.

A JPMorgan Chase executive spoke anonymously to the New York Times website, saying the deal was not high-profile enough.

“This deal still requires us to significantly increase our participation. So it’s not that attractive.”

Negotiations between the two sides have also reached an impasse on some issues, such as the composition of the board of directors, shareholders' voting rights, and how major shareholders can sell their company's shares.

Bryce Masters’ version of the blockchain software failed to impress potential investors. With several startups embracing blockchain technology, investors are wary of the idea that creating cutting-edge software will lead to huge success.

Another big problem for blockchain startups is the formation of the R3 group, which is working to create technology that meets the needs of banks, with more banks joining every week. The blockchain consortium has grown to 42 members.

With blockchain technology expected to reach full development in 2016, it’s safe to say that the day is nigh when the technology will see greater adoption in financial markets. If Bryce hadn’t delivered software that kept up, she might not have gotten the attention (or money) from investors that has become so important.