Samiz Bayan is an investor, entrepreneur, and venture capital professional whose work has focused on blockchain technology, digital assets, and emerging technology companies. He is a Partner at Draper Dragon, an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in Web3, cryptocurrency, and technology startups. ^[1]

Education

Bayan earned two BBAs from the University of Southern California and the USC Marshall School of Business. ^[3]

Career

Bayan began his professional career in finance and consumer products. He worked as a Product Consultant for The Estée Lauder Companies, advising on sales strategy and retail operations, before joining Bank of America in 2018. At Bank of America, he served as an associate, working with small-business clients and helping to connect commercial banking services with wealth management and investment solutions.

In 2020, Bayan co-founded Crashr, a platform focused on real-world assets and peer-to-peer economic activity. The company explored the use of blockchain technology to facilitate the tokenization and onchain representation of assets. He led the business until 2023, when he transitioned to venture investing.

Since 2023, Bayan has been a Partner at Draper Dragon, where he focuses on identifying and supporting early-stage companies in the digital asset and emerging technology sectors. In addition to his role at the firm, he has participated as an investor in several blockchain and financial technology companies, including Veda, OpenTrade, ether.fi, Coinflow, and Mogul. His work has centered on venture capital, startup development, and the growth of blockchain-based financial and technology ecosystems. ^[4]

Interviews

Orion Fund

In an April 2026 episode of Cardano’s Governance Hour hosted by Nicolas Cerny, Bayan discussed the Orion Fund and its governance framework within the Cardano ecosystem. Bayan outlined his early engagement with Cardano beginning around 2019–2020, citing its research-driven, peer-reviewed development approach as a key entry point into the ecosystem, and described his broader transition into venture capital focused on digital assets.

The discussion focused on the structure and rollout of the Orion Fund, including the approval and execution of a 50 million ADA treasury allocation into a special-purpose vehicle, ARI Holdings, as part of a phased investment strategy targeting a total fund size of 75 million USD over four years. Bayan emphasized the fund’s emphasis on transparency and governance, including the use of dashboards, quarterly reporting, and community voting mechanisms to align with Cardano stakeholders. He also outlined the fund’s investment focus areas, which include real-world assets, Bitcoin DeFi, institutional DeFi, stablecoins, privacy technologies, and consumer applications, with deployment across stages ranging from pre-seed to Series A.

Bayan further described the fund’s community engagement approach, including project intake processes, ecosystem partnerships, and community-driven nomination mechanisms designed to build a consistent pipeline of opportunities. He also highlighted Draper Dragon’s long-standing investment experience across both traditional and digital asset markets and its ongoing commitment to supporting Cardano’s ecosystem development. Overall, the conversation positioned the Orion Fund as a structured, transparent, and scalable model for institutional participation within Cardano’s governance and investment landscape. ^[5]

Panels

Investing in Startups

At Rare Evo 2025 in August, Bayan participated in a panel moderated by David Wachsman alongside Seira Yun (Socious) and Michael Yagi (Sundial), where they discussed the evolving landscape of blockchain venture investing and ecosystem development. The conversation centered on a shift toward more purpose-driven capital allocation in crypto, alongside growing institutional interest driven by improving regulatory clarity and increasing confidence in Bitcoin and broader digital asset markets.

Bayan highlighted increased institutional participation in the sector and the implications of sustained capital inflows for market structure and innovation cycles, particularly within Bitcoin-linked ecosystems. Other panelists discussed the rise of Bitcoin layer 2 development focused on yield and scalability, as well as the importance of trustless bridges and decentralized identity systems in enabling secure, privacy-preserving verification for both regulated use cases and decentralized governance. The discussion also touched on efforts to improve user experience and onboarding in crypto applications, as well as emerging opportunities in gaming and e-sports. Overall, the panel reflected a shared view that blockchain adoption is entering a more mature phase, driven by institutional engagement, infrastructure development, and broader real-world integration ^[6]