Fidelity and Akuna Captial led fundraising raised a whopping $4 million for BlockFi, a startup, which is similar to the online lending industry in fiat, but for cryptocurrencies. The company plans to start debit and credit products for crypto-assets in the market.
Related Articles
BlockFi has been the talk of the week, as major Wall Street players like Fidelity, Akuna Capital, Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy digital, and even Anthony Pompliano’s Morgan Creek Digital are backing the startup.
The recent round of funding that raised $4 million was led by Akuna Capital, with participation from CMT Digital, Susquehanna Government Products, LLLP, Recruit Strategic Partners, Galaxy Digital Ventures, Morgan Creek Digital and Devonshire Investors, the private equity group affiliated with FMR LLC, the parent company of Fidelity Investments.
The latest round was preceded by two other rounds, the first being the ConsenSys Ventures, SoFi and Kenetic Capital round that raised $1.55 million, and the second round led by Galaxy Digital, which raised $52.5 million.
BlockFi is the only firm which offers individuals and companies, loans using cryptocurrencies as collateral. Currently, the company offers services in 42 US states and plans to extend its services worldwide.
Speaking to Anthony Pompliano, Zac Price, the CEO of BlockFi, explained why he decided to start a lending industry for cryptocurrencies:
“For all the same reasons why the online lending industry was successful, there are areas in the lending industry that the banks are not participating. I thought that the crypto-ecosystem was going to need debt and credit products, just like every other asset class, and banks were not going to do that.”
Toby Allen, the head of digital assets at Akuna Capital, added:
“The BlockFi team is providing a critical piece of financial services infrastructure in the crypto space. Companies like BlockFi are representative of the high-quality development that will facilitate continued consumer adoption.”
Zac Prince, CEO of BlockFi, said:
“We’re thrilled to have such a strategic group of investors supporting our efforts to bring low-cost credit to crypto market participants. Our pragmatic approach to fundraising and team building has enabled us to continue growing through negative market conditions.”
Anthony Pompliano, the founder and partner at Morgan Creek Digital, tweeted on December 12 and revealed that firm had also invested in BlockFi.
A Twitter user Gregg commented:
“I just want a cc that pays BTC as a reward”
Mark W. Yusko, a partner at Morgan Creek Digital, replied:
“Actually a Great Idea….”
Another Twitter user Cryptomanager replied:
“I second that! I have a massive points on Citi, I wish it can be converted to any cryptocurrency”
The post Fidelity, Akuna Capital backed fundraising raises $4 million for crypto-to-USD lending startup BlockFi appeared first on AMBCrypto.
This post first appeared on AMBCrypto - Latest Cryptocurrency News, please read the originial post: here
