The crypto market is riddled with uncertainties orchestrated by its volatility and governments’ body language that has, at every given time, impacted the market either negatively or positively. The situation has fueled the indecision of many investors, who have been watching the crypto industry from the sideline, waiting for a global political backing or a sign that its volatile concern has been solved.
Despite this situation, the crypto market keeps witnessing rise in institutional and individual investment amidst investors’ search for hedge against inflation. This means, crypto startups witnessing huge investment funds, shooting their valuation to billions of dollars.
In line with this trend, crypto company Anchorage has announced that it has raised a $350 million Series D round at more than $3 billion valuation. This is coming less than a year after raising an $80 million Series C round, TechCrunch has the report.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
Anchorage offers a custody solution for big institutions, such as publicly traded companies or funds. On top of that, Anchorage lets you trade crypto assets, stake assets to earn returns and participate in protocol governance if you own a lot of tokens for a specific protocol.
For instance, one transaction has been particularly commented. Back in August, Visa acquired a CryptoPunk for 49.5 ETH. At the time, it represented around $150,000. Behind the scenes, Anchorage handled the transaction for Visa.
KKR is leading the round with many different investors also participating. They are Goldman Sachs, Alameda Research, Andreessen Horowitz, Apollo credit funds, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Blockchain Capital, Delta Blockchain Fund, Elad Gil, GIC, GoldenTree Asset Management, Innovius Capital, Kraken, Lux Capital, PayPal Ventures, Senator Investment Group, Standard Investments, Thoma Bravo and Wellington Management.
This big group of investors are betting their money in Anchorage because the startup received a federal banking charter, turning it into a digital asset bank. It differentiates Anchorage from many custodian products out there.
With this funding round, the company plans to improve its product, especially for global financial firms and other fintech companies. Customers can also expect more features with more integrations with DeFi products.
“As a pioneer in enabling institutional investors to access digital assets, Anchorage has built a best in class, institutional grade digital asset platform that combines the best practices of both modern security and usability. We are thrilled to lead this Series D round and work with Diogo, Nathan and their talented team as they continue to support the institutional adoption of digital assets through their differentiated, regulated and integrated suite of solutions,” KKR’s Technology Growth Equity senior leader Ben Pederson said in a statement.
Over the past year, Anchorage has increased its number of clients by 96%. The company’s head count has also increased by quite a lot with a 175% jump compared to the same period last year.
With its federal banking charter, Anchorage has a good barrier to entry in case other companies want to compete in the same space. As companies realize that crypto assets are more than a fad, they’ll increasingly look for trustworthy partners to interact with in the crypto ecosystem. And some of them will certainly end up working with Anchorage.