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This round was led by UK-based Kingsway Capital, marking a significant shift in the company's valuation. Notably, the current valuation is less than half of its previous $14 billion, which was established in early 2022.
This latest round of funding, involving notable participants such as Baillie Gifford, Lakestar, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Coinbase Ventures, has brought Blockchain.com's total raised capital to around $600 million since its inception in 2011. Baillie Gifford, a prominent investor in Tesla, had previously contributed $100 million to Blockchain.com’s $300 million Series C round in 2021.
The reduced valuation comes in the wake of significant industry challenges, including a layoff of 28% of Blockchain.com's workforce in January and the company's struggle with a $270 million loss from the 2021 collapse of crypto lender Three Arrows Capital. To mitigate these issues, Blockchain.com has implemented cost-cutting measures such as closing its Argentinian office, reducing CEO compensation, and laying off a quarter of its staff.
Despite these setbacks, the crypto market has shown signs of recovery. For instance, Bitcoin's price has significantly rebounded from being under $20,000 in most of October 2022 to trading above $35,000.
With this fresh capital, Blockchain.com aims to navigate the volatile crypto market and strengthen its position in the industry.
Modhaus: $8M
Korean blockchain-based K-pop startup Modhaus raised $8M in a Series A funding round led by Sfermion, with participation from SM Culture Partners, Laguna Investment, KDDI Open Innovation Fund III (KOIF III), Foresight Ventures.
Fnality: $95M
Consortium of banks focused on regulated payment system for digital assets Fnality International raised $95M in a Series B funding round led by Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, with participation from DTCC, Euroclear, Nomura, WisdomTree, Banco Santander, BNY Mellon, Barclays, CIBC, Commerzbank, ING, Lloyds Banking Group, Nasdaq Ventures, State Street, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, UBS.
BlockchainCom: $110M
Centralized cryptocurrency exchange BlockchainCom raised $110M in a Series E funding round led by Kingsway Capital, with participation from Baillie Gifford, Lakestar, Lightspeed, Coinbase Ventures.
This is a special newsletter. Every week, we deconstruct the best crypto trends and share those insights with you.
