Prominent institutional-grade cryptocurrency wallet provider BitGo raised $58.5 billion in a Series B funding round led by Mike Novogratz’ crypto-focused Galaxy Digital and Wall Street mainstay Goldman Sachs.
Goldman and Galaxy Back BitGo’s Ambitions to Create a “$1 Trillion Crypto Wallet”
Industry-leading provider of multi-sig security cryptocurrency custodial services BitGo today the second close of its Series B funding round.
New investments from Goldman Sachs’ Principal Strategic Investments group and the Novogratz-led Galaxy Digital Ventures LLC combined with previous backing from Valor Equity Partners, Craft Ventures, DRW, and Redpoint Ventures bring the Series B funding round total to $58.5 billion.
The funding, BitGo says, will go toward developing a “$1 trillion crypto wallet.” BitGo is currently the largest processor of on-chain Bitcoin transactions, accounting for 15% of all global Bitcoin transactions, and sees $15 billion each month in cryptocurrency transactions across all of the 95 plus coins the wallet supports.
Mike Belshe, CEO of the Palo Alto-headquartered BitGo says that the investment from Goldman and Galaxy Digital “validates both our market opportunity and unique position,” adding that “no one is better positioned than BitGo to serve institutional investors who want to trade cryptocurrencies and digital assets. That’s why we’re focused on figuring out what it takes to secure a trillion dollars. The market’s not there yet but our job is to be ready first.”
BitGo, as with many other entities in the cryptocurrency space, are bolstering their offerings to lure institutional investors into the space. Among chief concerns preventing institutional money from entering the cryptocurrency arena, is a proper custodial solution, which BitGo aims to create.
Rana Yared, managing director of Goldman Sachs’ principal strategic investments group agrees with the theory, explaining that “greater institutional participation in the digital asset markets requires secure and regulated custody solutions.”
“We view our investment in BitGo as an exciting opportunity to contribute to the evolution of this critical market infrastructure,” the Goldman Sachs exec added.
Outspoken cryptocurrency investor and founder of Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz, who recently said that Bitcoin wouldn’t see new highs until Q1 or Q2 2019 once institutional investors begin entering the market, says that “institutional investors are gradually realizing that digital assets are going to be a game changer, and they want to participate.” He continues that BitGo has the “deep technical understanding of digital assets” and “ability to deliver institutional-quality products” that will appeal to institutional investors.
“Our team is excited to support BitGo as it enters into this next phase of growth,” Novogratz added.
This latest development in supporting BitGo’s efforts to raise funding and grow its business offerings shows that traditional finance firms like Goldman Sachs are eager to enter the cryptocurrency industry any way they can.
Earlier this week, Fidelity Investments became the first Wall Street incumbent to launch a dedicated cryptocurrency trading operation dubbed Fidelity Digital Asset Services.
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