Three BlackRock staff  have quit their jobs to launch a $20m venture capital fund aimed at investing in blockchain projects, another example of investment professionals leaving large institutions to work with the technology underpinning digital currencies like bitcoin and ethereum.

Eterna Capital is led by CEO Andrea Bonaceto, who launched recruitment platform HiredGrad straight out of university in 2014. He started the fund in late April with Nassim Olive, Asim Ahmad and Mattia Mrvosevic, who until recently worked in BlackRock's institutional client business.