BlockFi Raises $50 Million In Series C To Release Bitcoin Rewards-Based Credit Card
- After the closure of the series C, the company has now raised nearly $100 million in the past 12 months.
- With more than $1.5 billion in crypto assets and around $10 million in monthly revenue, BlockFi aims to widen its developer team and expand geographically.
Illustration from Freepik
On August 20, BlockFi announced the closure of its Series C funding round, raising $50 million to grow the team of developers and further expand its business. The newly-acquired funds will be used for the release of a bitcoin rewards-based credit card as well as to support additional digital assets and currencies on the platform.
According to the announcement, many reputable lenders have taken part in the funding, including the lead investor in BlockFi’s Series A and Series B – CMT Digital, NBA player Matthew Dellavedova, Castle Island Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, SCB 10X, Avon Ventures, Purple Arch Ventures, Kenetic Capital, HashKey, Michael Antonov, as well as two unnamed university endowments.
The company has publicly declared its position to continue to capitalize on macroeconomic trends and work towards the adoption of Bitcoin as an uncorrelated asset from equities and other commodities. Their goals for the future are to surpass $100 million in revenue over the next 12 months and expand their offerings as a full-service investment platform for cryptocurrencies, as at this moment, more than $1.5 billion in assets are being boasted on BlockFi.
“The past 12 months at BlockFi have been nothing short of amazing, and if anything, it’s a testament to the staying power of bitcoin and other digital assets,” said Zac Prince, CEO and Founder of BlockFi. “With the support from our partners, we’re creating a platform for investors where they aren’t investing in just digital assets anymore—they’re investing in the future, greater financial empowerment and accessibility.”
The company also stated that new members were added to their leadership team recently, including a new Chief Growth Officer Wittney Rachlin (American Express, Prudential), Chief Security Officer Adam Healy (Bakkt, Palantir, various U.S. government offices), General Counsel Jonathan Mayers (Renaissance Technologies, Barclays, Deutsche Bank), and Europe/APAC Managing Director David Olsson (Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch).
According to BlockFi, bringing qualitative innovations across the fintech industry will require them to scale up their operations and bring new talent onboard. The expanded team will work on improving the retail and institutional client experience while enabling the platform to broaden the appeal of crypto-based investment.
“I’m really excited by Zac and the team’s explosive growth in a growing space. To be able to earn interest on crypto is going to be attractive for a lot of people in a low yield environment,” explained Matthew Dellavedova, NBA player with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
- A cyber security incident at bankruptcy service provider Kroll has resulted in the exposure of “non-sensitive” customer data for claimants involved in the FTX and BlockFi cases.
- Both companies confirmed that account passwords, systems, and funds remained safe, but warned customers to be on the lookout for phishing scams.
Shutterstock
- The crypto lender is seeking permission from the U.S. bankruptcy court to resume withdrawals for users that have their crypto locked in its Wallet Accounts.
- It also wishes to update its user interface, which at present incorrectly shows that some transactions took place after it paused withdrawals on 10 November.
- BlockFi’s Chapter 11 filing revealed that it had $257 million in cash on hand, more than 100,000 creditors, and between $1 billion and $10 billion in both assets and liabilities.
- The company’s largest creditors include FTX.US, which has a $275 million unsecured claim, and the Securities and Exchange Commission with a $30 million claim