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Crypto lending firm BlockFi has raised $30 million in a Series B round led by Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures.
This comes on the heels of $18.3 million Series A funding raised in August 2019 and brings BlockFi’s total funding to over $108 million to date. The latest round saw participation from Morgan Creek Digital, PJC, Akuna Capital, CMT Digital, Avon Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, Purple Arch Ventures, Kenetic Capital, Winklevoss Capital, Arrington XRP Capital, and Hong Kong-based HashKey Capital.
“At BlockFi, we believe that access to wealth-building financial products shouldn’t be limited by geography or net worth. With this investment, we’re one step closer to realizing that vision,” said Zac Prince, CEO and Co-Founder, BlockFi. “As our platform continues to mature, BlockFi clients benefit from more diverse products, and in turn, greater financial empowerment.”
Prince told CoinDesk that they decided to raise the Series B to expand the balance sheet and be able to “invest in the things we’re doing this year.” The company intends to use the funding to expand its product offering and geographical presence.
“Proceeds will be utilized to grow the team at an accelerated pace and expand BlockFi’s offerings to include products accessible to a mainstream audience, starting with a mobile app in the coming months,” BlockFi said.
The company intends to develop a mobile app in the first quarter, followed by its plans to offer Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments in the second quarter.
Prince told the news portal that the company will expand into Singapore later this year with the help of HashKey. This would mark BlockFi’s first physical presence in Asia. The company aims to onboard more retail customers in the region with plans to translate its site and products into local Asian languages.
Founded in 2017, BlockFi is a non-bank lender that offers USD loans to cryptoasset owners, bringing additional liquidity to the blockchain asset sector. It offers a suite of financial products, including crypto-based interest accounts providing up to an 8.6% annual percentage yield on Bitcoin, Ether and stablecoins; crypto-backed loans which allow investors to access liquidity up to 50% of an asset’s value in USD; and zero-fee trading.
In its press release, the company said that it has over $650 million in assets on the platform, with a 0% loss rate across its entire loan portfolio since it began lending in January 2018. BlockFi claims that its revenue grew more than 20x in 2019.
“We were proud to have made our first investment in the crypto sector with BlockFi, and we’re excited to continue propelling the company forward as they define the industry standard for what a modern financial services company for cryptocurrency looks like,” said Andrew McCormack, general partner at Valar Ventures. “To say the least, BlockFi has been one of the most successful companies we’ve invested in right out of the gate.”
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