BlockFi, a crypto-backed loan company, today announced that it has raised $18.3 million in Series A funding led by Valar Ventures with participation from Winklevoss Capital, Galaxy Digital, ConsenSys Ventures, Akuna Capital, Avon Ventures, Susquehanna, CMT Digital, Morgan Creek, and PJC.
The capital will be used to add new products to BlockFi’s existing platform, which includes interest-earning accounts for Bitcoin and crypto-backed USD loans.
BlockFi was the first company to receive institutional funding for crypto-backed USD loans, in the form of a $50 million lending facility from Galaxy Digital. The company’s second product enabled crypto investors to earn interest on their assets and participate in the rapidly growing crypto-lending market.
“Outside of all the hype and volatility of the crypto trading markets, there are teams, like BlockFi, that are building the infrastructure to allow investing in digital assets to become mainstream. We are excited to help BlockFi build robust “picks and shovels” for this emerging asset class.”
– James Fitzgerald, general partner at Valar Ventures