As per a recent Reuters report, the Bank of New York Mellon has joined a Series C funding round for New York-based crypto custodian Fireblocks. The platform also received a strategic investment from SVB Capital, bringing the total cash injection from the two ventures to $133 million.
According to Fireblocks’ statement, the completion of the round, led by Coatue Management and Ribbit Capital, has brought the company’s total amount of capital raised to $179M. Previous investors in the Series C round include Galaxy Digital, Paradigm, and Swisscom Ventures.
Fireblocks CEO and co-founder Michael Shaulov said that the funds would go into expanding the infrastructure of their platform, which has a rapidly increasing customer base.
The venture capital injection is expected to facilitate more banks and other financial institutes to store, move and issue crypto assets via the Fireblocks platform.
BNY Mellon Warms Up to Cryptocurrencies
BNY Mellon, the oldest banking establishment in the US, has deepened its focus on digital assets in recent months.
The custodian bank’s participation in the Fireblocks funding round follows the institution’s introduction of bitcoin services to its clientele last month. As reported by the Daily chain, BNY Mellon created a new asset management unit to help customers hold, transfer and issue crypto-assets such as BTC.
The strategic investment into Fireblocks may be part of a bigger plan by the bank to open the country’s first multi-asset custody platform that bridges traditional and digital assets.
America’s oldest bank now joins a flurry of top-tier financial services companies such as BlackRock Inc. and Mastercard that have also decided to back digital currencies.
On March 17, Morgan Stanely became the first major U.S. bank to launch a product that grants its client exposure to bitcoin. The bank, which currently boasts more than $4 trillion in assets under management, reportedly received pressure from its wealth management clients to offer exposure to the top cryptocurrency.
According to an internal memo from Morgan Stanely, the new product will be enabled by crypto firm Galaxy Digital and FS NYDIG.
Fireblocks’ Growing Partnerships
Fireblocks has on-boarded 70 new clients in recent months, with more partnerships lined up before the end of this quarter.
So far, the firm has completed approximately $400 billion in crypto transfers for over 230 clients that include hedge funds, FinTech companies, banks, and exchanges.
The New York-based crypto storage provider has a presence in Europe, Asia, and North America and is currently closely advising 50% of the top 70 banking institutions globally. Shaulov says the firm is also developing pilot products with five multinational banks.
