BlockFi raises $350mn in Series D funding at $3 bn valuation

By Pavithra R

BlockFi, building a bridge between traditional finance and blockchain technology to bring financial empowerment to clients globally, has announced the completion of its $350mn Series D funding round led by new investors, including Bain Capital Ventures, partners of DST Global, Pomp Investments, and Tiger Global. 

The investment round follows 2 prior rounds totalling $100M within the last 2 years and includes participation from Susquehanna Government Products, LLLP, Valar Ventures, Morgan Creek Digital, Akuna Capital, PJC, Hudson River Trading, ParaFi Capital, Bracket Capital, Paradigm, Jump Capital, Pacific Century Group, Gaingels, Third Prime, Kenetic, CMS Holdings, The Venture Collective, Breyer Capital, and Castle Island Ventures.

“In less than six months since we completed our Series C, bitcoin and other digital assets have assumed a central role in many investors’ portfolios and in broader financial markets. Our conviction that digital assets are the future of finance has been vindicated by our client base, which grew 10x YoY in 2020 and has more than doubled since the end of 2020. Digital assets will continue to democratize finance, serve as a hedge against inflation and expansionary monetary policy, and promote innovation in financial technology and accessibility to financial services,” said Zac Prince, CEO and Co-Founder of BlockFi.

The new finance brings the company to a valuation of $3bn and will enable further accelerate expansion into new markets, innovation in the product suite, and provide capital for select acquisition opportunities. These activities will augment the current core product offering, which includes:

1. earning yield on digital assets at attractive rates;
2. buying and selling digital assets directly on BlockFi (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Link, PaxG, and multiple stablecoins); and
3. originating US dollar loans secured by the value of digital assets on the platform. 

The FinTech recently announced the addition of multiple senior executives and a number of retail and institutional investor focused products and initiatives, including a Bitcoin Rewards Credit Card, the BlockFi Bitcoin Trust, an OTC trading desk, and Private Client Services in Asia. Additionally, BlockFi employees who have been employed for more than 1 year have the opportunity to receive liquidity on a portion of their equity via a secondary tender offer as part of this financing round. 

Since its Series C, BlockFi has focused on adding unique talent to its leadership team, all of whom come from respected FIs. Among the company’s recent additions are Tony Lauro as CFO (Intermex, JP Morgan Chase Commerce Solutions), Andrew Tam as Senior VP of Marketing (Credit Karma, Apartment List, and Ares Private Equity), Rishi Ramchandani as Director of Business Development for Asia (Bank of America Merrill Lynch), Greg Collett as Head of Investment Products (World Gold Council, Deutsche Bank), and Lei Lei as Director of Institutional Sales-Real Money Clients (Deutsche Bank, Nomura).

“We are in the early innings of retail and institutional crypto adoption; as demand grows, we see an enormous opportunity for crypto companies to offer a suite of sophisticated, scalable financial services to engage and empower clients. BlockFi has solidified itself as a category winner built on superior products, a world-class team, and a brand of trust and reliability for investors and borrowers. We couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with the company to accelerate its growth globally and seize one of the most important opportunities of our time in shaping the future of finance,” said Stefan Cohen, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures.

Founded in 2017, BlockFi provides wealth management products that crypto investors need, all powered by blockchain technology. Additionally, BlockFi is a leading lender and provider of trade execution services to institutions participating in digital asset markets. The company boasts more than $15bn in assets on its platform, with a 0% loss rate across its lending portfolio since inception.