Nathanael Cohen

Nathanaël Cohen (born 9 January 1995) is a French entrepreneur, investor, and digital asset strategist based in London, United Kingdom. He is co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of INDIGO Fund, an institutional digital asset yield platform, and co-founder and Head of OTC at SH Digital, an institutional cryptocurrency brokerage. Cohen is recognised as an early mover in institutional cryptocurrency markets, having entered the space in 2016, and has been involved in over US$20 billion in digital asset transactions throughout his career.

Early Life and Background

Nathanaël Cohen was born on 9 January 1995 in Paris, France. He grew up in Paris in a family environment that valued work ethic and intellectual curiosity, with his father working in media and advertising sales and his mother working as a psychologist. From a young age, he demonstrated strong ambition and a drive to forge his own professional path.

From his teenage years, Cohen gravitated toward sales and business, taking on various commercial roles alongside his studies. These early experiences shaped his ability to negotiate, build client relationships, and understand market dynamics.

A key turning point came during his early exposure to traditional finance. After exploring opportunities in investment banking, Cohen concluded that the conventional career path did not align with his ambitions. He was more drawn to emerging markets where he could have a direct impact and operate in a less constrained environment. His discovery of cryptocurrency in 2016 introduced him to a new financial paradigm — one combining technology, markets, and structural inefficiencies — which led him to pursue a career in digital assets rather than traditional finance.

Education

Cohen attended Lycée Voltaire in Paris, completing his secondary education in 2013. He subsequently pursued higher education at the Paris School of Business, where he obtained a Master's Degree in Finance.

His academic thesis focused on financial inclusion through blockchain technology, examining how digital assets can provide access to financial services in underbanked regions — a subject that reflected his broader interest in the transformative potential of decentralised finance.

Career

Early Career

Cohen began his professional career in traditional brokerage. In 2017, he joined Makor Securities as an Equity Derivatives Sales professional, gaining his first experience in institutional financial markets.

Enigma Securities (2018–2022)

In 2018, Cohen joined Enigma Securities, one of the first Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)-regulated institutional cryptocurrency brokerage firms in London. Shortly after joining, he was relocated to New York City, where he was based near Wall Street.

In this role, he worked directly with leading institutions including Coinbase, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, and major market makers, at a time when institutional adoption of digital assets was still in its earliest stages. He rapidly became one of the top-performing brokers on the desk, generating multi-million dollar revenue and building a strong institutional network in the nascent cryptocurrency market.

After approximately eighteen months, Cohen was promoted to Head of Sales Trading, overseeing the sales and trading desk. In this capacity, he managed client relationships, execution flows, and the overall commercial performance of the desk, deepening his expertise in institutional liquidity and market structure.

Transition to London and Entrepreneurship

Following the COVID-19 period, Cohen relocated to London, where he met his future business partner, Thomas Puech. Together, they continued to develop institutional relationships within the digital asset space, drawing on their combined experience across brokerage, liquidity, and market structure.

INDIGO Fund (2022–Present)

In early 2022, Cohen co-founded INDIGO Fund alongside Thomas Puech and international artist and entrepreneur BLOND:ISH. BLOND:ISH, a globally recognised DJ and early advocate of digital assets, contributed a network of high-net-worth individuals and US-based investors exploring cryptocurrency exposure, which played a key role in the fund's early development.

The fund launched with approximately US$5.5 million raised from notable investors, including Winklevoss Capital, The Sandbox, and prominent hedge fund founders. It has since grown to approximately US$25 million in assets under management.

INDIGO Fund focuses on yield and relative-value strategies across digital assets, leveraging decentralised finance (DeFi) infrastructure and market inefficiencies to generate consistent returns. The fund emphasises:

Full liquidity, with no long-term lock-up periods
Risk-adjusted returns
Operational flexibility for investors
Capital efficiency

As Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Cohen leads the firm's investment strategy, risk management, and capital allocation across digital asset yield and relative-value strategies.

Notable clients and partners include Winklevoss Capital, The Sandbox, MoonPay's CEO, and Barry Sternlicht, CEO of Starwood Capital.

SH Digital (2022–Present)

In parallel with INDIGO Fund, Cohen co-founded SH Digital in partnership with a financial group led by the former CEO of MoneyGram. SH Digital operates as an institutional over-the-counter (OTC) brokerage providing:

Cryptocurrency-to-fiat liquidity
Large-scale trade execution
Treasury and payment solutions

The firm serves a global client base including hedge funds, asset managers, family offices, and payment companies, acting as a bridge between traditional finance and digital assets. As Co-Founder and Head of OTC, Cohen is responsible for driving business development, managing and scaling the OTC desk, recruiting and leading teams across sales and trading, and overseeing execution workflows and liquidity relationships.

Areas of Expertise

Cohen's core areas of professional expertise include:

Digital asset markets, active since 2016
DeFi yield and relative-value strategies
OTC trading and institutional liquidity provision
Cryptocurrency-to-fiat execution and treasury solutions
Market structure and risk management

Throughout his career, he has been involved in over US$20 billion in digital asset transactions, supporting hedge funds, asset managers, family offices, and corporates in accessing liquidity and executing complex trades.

Public Speaking and Industry Engagement

Cohen has participated in a range of industry events and speaking engagements within the digital asset and blockchain space, including:

Bequant Event — industry panel participation on institutional digital asset markets
Texas Blockchain Council — speaker engagement on institutional crypto adoption and market structure
London Business School — engagement on digital assets and decentralised finance innovation
Credix Finance — featured in a discussion alongside Credix founder and CEO Thomas Bohner, covering institutional DeFi yield strategies

Media Coverage

Cohen has been cited in international financial and technology media. He has been quoted multiple times by Bloomberg on cryptocurrency markets, including coverage of structural shifts in the crypto brokerage landscape. He has been featured in a Nasdaq publication on hedge fund activity in cryptocurrency markets, and was profiled by Tech Times in an article on success in the digital assets space. INDIGO Fund's growth and performance have additionally been covered by Business Insider, Yahoo Finance, Access Newswire, Cointribune, and the Universal Business Journal.

Personal Life

Nathanaël Cohen is single. His personal interests and philanthropic activities have not been publicly disclosed.

External Links