Fireblocks, a startup of the cryptocurrency, raised $ 133 million in a Series C funding round.
The investment round was led by venture capital firms Coatue, Ribbit and Stripes, with strategic investment from BNY Mellon and Silicon Valley Bank.
Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov said the cash injection would enable the company to expand the settlement infrastructure needed to get new customers on board as the adoption of cryptocurrencies heats up:
“Although we do not intend to become a bank, we believe that our infrastructure will provide a new era of financial services.”
Speaking about Micky Malka of Ribbit Capital on his investment in Fireblocks, he said: “We are on the verge of the biggest transformation the world’s financial system has ever seen,” adding that Fireblocks is at the “forefront of this revolution is. “
Series C funding is usually aimed at more developed projects that have already achieved a fair degree of success. These companies need additional capital to scale their products and services into new markets or even to acquire other businesses.
Fireblocks was founded in 2018 by veterans of the Israeli military intelligence, including Michael Shaulov, who was previously co-founder of a mobile security company, Lacoon Mobile Security. The firm specializes in the preservation of digital assets and also works to accelerate the speed of digital transactions. According to the Wall Street Journal, the latest round of funding brings Fireblocks’ valuation to more than $ 900 million, with a total of $ 179 million so far.
Fireblocks is a magnet for venture capital firms that want to capitalize on the growing institutional demand for Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. Prior to its C-Series fundraiser, Fireblocks had already raised a cumulative $ 179 million from investors such as Galaxy Digital, Swisscom Ventures, Paradigm, Tenaya Capital and Cyberstarts.
Through Fireblocks, banks and fintech companies can connect with the cryptocurrency market by offering solutions for custody, tokenization, asset management, trading, lending and payment. Since its inception three years ago, the company claims to have acquired $ 400 billion in digital assets on behalf of its customers. Its institutional clients include Nexo, Celsius, BlockFi, Salt and Coinsquare.
BNY Mellon is not the only banking institution that has prepared to launch its own crypto-storage solution. Deutsche Bank also plans to move to the crypto-storage business, along with offering trading and token issuance services.
Bryan Routledge, associate professor of finance at Carnegie Mellon University, argued that the preservation of cryptocurrencies is not so different from the traditional services already offered by the old banks. Saving a public and private key pair is important: ‘But it’s not that difficult’, or it should not be for most banks, he said.
Additional reporting by Sam Bourgi.