Cryptocurrency exchange and financial services firm, Blockchain.com, has reportedly raised new funding at a valuation of $14 billion.
According to Bloomberg, the financing round was led by global venture capital firm Lightspeed Ventures and Baillie Gifford & Co., an investment management firm renowned for its early involvement in growth stocks such as Tesla.
The funding round — which is yet to be publicly confirmed by Blockchain.com or the investors — reportedly saw the firms’ valuation increase from $5.2 billions to $14 billion. The total amount of funding raised is yet to be announced.
Founded in 2011, Blockchain.com is now one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency companies, and offers a wide range of blockchain-based financial services from its exchange platform and crypto wallets all the way to specific institutional products. It has 37 million verified users with 82 million wallets and over $1 trillion in total transaction value across its platform.
In April last year, Blockchain.com made headlines after securing a $100 million investment from Baillie Gifford & Co., which at the time was the single largest investment ever made in the company.
Blockchain.com’s last major funding round occurred in March 2021, with the Series C round seeing the firm raise $300 million at a $5.2 billion valuation. The funding round was led by DST Global, Lightspeed Venture Partners and VY Capital. Prior to this, the company raised $120 million ongoing from a wide array of VC firms, with the financing largely aimed at institutional business development.
This week Blockchain.com added its name to the list of companies withdrawing from the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) temporary register for crypto asset licensing, which outlines that firms must be approved under an anti-money-laundering (AML) scheme or cease trading by Mar. 31.
Blockchain.com withdrew its application on Mar. 29, choosing to operate in Europe via a Lithuanian registration instead. On March 11, BC2C, an institutional cryptocurrency trading provider also withdrew from the UK planning instead to conduct its operations through a US entity.
Source: Cointelegraph