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Crypto data firm Coin Metrics has raised $15 million in a Series B funding round led by Wall Street megabank Goldman Sachs.

In addition to Goldman, the investment round also drew support from Acrew Ventures, BlockFi, Morningside Group and Warburg Serres Investments. Coin Metrics said in a press statement that existing investors Castle Island Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Fidelity Investments, Avon Ventures, Communitas Capital and Collab+Currency boosted their stakes in the firm.

“Data is critical for the mainstream adoption of cryptoassets by traditional investors and financial services players. Our clients will greatly benefit from Coin Metrics’ institutional-grade data insights and emerging risk management tools,” Mathew McDermott, Goldman’s global head of digital assets, said in a statement.

As part of the funding deal, McDermott has also joined Coin Metrics’ board of directors.

As The Block’s John Dantoni noted in a research piece last month, the crypto/data analytics space drew $116 million across 13 deals during the first quarter of 2021. The largest of those rounds was by Chainalysis, which raised $100 million in a Series D funding round.

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Ethereum 2.0 (Eth2) staking protocol Lido Finance has raised $73 million in fresh funding.

The funding was led by crypto venture capital firm Paradigm, which bought $51 million worth of LDO tokens from LidoDAO’s treasury by paying the amount in 15,120 ether (ETH).

The rest of the amount, i.e., $22 million, was contributed by a range of investors, including Coinbase Ventures, Three Arrows Capital, Jump Trading, Alameda Research, Digital Currency Group, and several others.

Lido is a “liquid” Eth2 staking protocol, meaning it allows users to unlock staked ETH and use it in various DeFi applications to earn yield. Lido allows that by issuing its native token stETH for every ETH staked via its protocol. stETH is a tokenized version of staked ETH.

With fresh capital at hand, Lido plans to facilitate the integration of stETH across Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem, as well as other proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains such as Solana and Terra, Lido’s CMO Kasper Rasmussen told The Block.

Arjun Balaji, Paradigm’s investment partner, told The Block that the venture firm is “excited by Lido’s potential to offer the leading decentralized staking solution for ETH2 and other PoS chains.”

Lido’s staking solution is decentralized, meaning it does not rely on a single party’s private key management, such as centralized crypto exchanges’ staking services. Lido charges a 10% fee on staking rewards, according to information on its website.

ETH2 is a popular asset for staking. The Eth2 staking contract now has more than 4 million ETH, which is worth nearly $14 billion at current prices, according to The Block’s Data Dashboard.

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Fintech firm FIS and NYDIG, the bitcoin-focused subsidiary of investment firm Stone Ridge, have partnered on a new service offering that lets banks offer bitcoin capabilities to their customers. 

According to a Wednesday press statement, NYDIG will manage the bitcoin transactions side of the offering while FIS, via its Digital One Mobile tool, will offer the digital experience element. 

NYDIG will manage the bitcoin transactions and the FIS Digital One Mobile tool to offer the digital experience to banks. Customers will be able to see and manage their bitcoin holdings along with their checking and savings accounts, according to the companies.

“While bitcoin adoption is increasing, an accessibility and credibility gap remains for too many who want to buy, sell and hold,” said Robert Gutmann, co-founder and CEO of NYDIG, in a statement. “Our partnership with FIS, and their core banking clients, bridges this gap.”

Along with this partnership, FIS announced that it invested through its venture arm an undisclosed amount to NYDIG, which recently secured funding from First Foundation in addition to its $300 million raised in March and April. 

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Quick Take

• The UK still lacks a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets.
• If the UK were to pursue a very liberal regulatory framework, it could attract substantial talent from overregulated EU jurisdictions.

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this Genesis research on The Block.

Crypto exchange Bitso has wrapped up a $250 million Series C fundraising round, joining the roster of newly minted crypto unicorns.

Investment legends Tiger Global and Coatue Management co-led the round, which finished just a few months after Bitso announced its Series B. Bitso joins a fast-growing list of new crypto unicorns—including Paxos, BlockFi, and Dapper Labs—that have raised eye-popping rounds this year. Its valuation stands at $2.2 billion. 

Bitso CEO Daniel Vogel told The Block in an interview that the fundraise follows a period of significant growth for the firm. The exchange—which is among the largest crypto and financial technology firms in Latin America—doubled its user base in less than four months from 1 million to 2 million during 2021. Vogel said its recent expansion into Brazil could potentially double its users again. 

Still, the firm is small relative to its players in the US. Last month, its volumes topped $860 million—a small fraction of the volumes reported by firms like Coinbase and Gemini

Still, the firm sees a futures for itself outside of just trading. Vogel said the firm’s core exchange business could set the foundation for a broader platform for financial-services built for the LATAM region, which has less robust capital markets and financial infrastructure. 

“We want to bring a set of products that is much broader than crypto,” he said. “In Argentina, we have thousands of customers that work for companies all over the world and they get paid in stablecoins. We want to help users make crypto part of their ever day.”

As for the round, Paradigm, BOND, and Valor Capital also participated. 

“Latin America has always had a special appreciation for the power of cryptocurrency,” said Matt Huang, co-founder of Paradigm. “We are excited to back Bitso as the market-leading platform for furthering access to cryptocurrency and financial freedom in Latin America.”

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Mike Novogratz’s crypto merchant bank Galaxy Digital is set to acquire crypto custodian BitGo for $1.2 billion.

Announcing the news on Wednesday, Galaxy Digital said the deal is in a mix of stock and cash — $265 million in cash and the rest in 33.8 million newly issued shares of Galaxy Digital.

Once completed, the acquisition will make BitGo shareholders own approximately 10% of Galaxy Digital. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021. Upon closing, Mike Belshe will join as deputy CEO of Galaxy Digital and become a member of the company’s board of directors.

“The acquisition of BitGo establishes Galaxy Digital as a one-stop-shop for institutions and significantly accelerates our mission to institutionalize digital asset ecosystems and blockchain technology,” said Mike Novogratz, founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital. “The power of the technology, solutions, and people we will have as a result of this acquisition will unlock unique value for our clients and drive long-term growth for our combined business.”

BitGo was founded in 2013 and provides crypto custody, trading, prime lending, portfolio management, and tax solutions. The firm claims to have over $40 billion of assets under custody, serving over 150 exchanges and over 400 institutional clients.

BitGo had been looking for a buyer for months. Last December, there were reports that PayPal will acquire the firm, but those talks fell through. PayPal later acquired crypto custodian Curv for an undisclosed sum.

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Non-fungible token (NFT) startup RTFKT Studios has raised $8 million in a seed funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

Other participants in the round included Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital, Ledger, Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou, Hong Kong billionaire Adrian Cheng’s C Ventures, Shrug Capital, NFT artist Fewocious, Genie founder Akash Nigam and several others.

With fresh capital at hand, RTFKT Studios plans to scale its team of three by hiring creators and artists, build an NFT marketplace, and invest in people that are helping to develop a metaverse or virtual world.

“Through unique partnerships and projects, we can push the NFT ecosystem forward and help shape the future of fashion and commerce in the metaverse,” said RTFKT.

RTFKT is best known for holding an NFT sale of digital sneakers in collaboration with 18-year-old artist Fewocious. The sale, held in March, yielded over $3 million in under 7 minutes.

RTFKT said it made history with Fewocious and that they will “continue to do so.”

“Digital fashion will be huge as we spend more time socializing virtually,” said A16Z partner Jonathan Lai. “RTFKT Studios is building ‘Digital Supreme’ starting with sneakers.”

“As we spend more time in virtual worlds, we will care just as much about our digital sneakers/handbags as we do our physical ones,” said Lai. “This is already happening in games. The majority of spend in the $150B+ games market is for virtual goods.”

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Swedish crypto broker Safello announced Wednesday that its initial public offering (IPO) has been oversubscribed by 1,240%.

Safello had 40.5 million Swedish kronor (around $4.8 million) worth of new shares on the offer through the IPO, but it received bids for 502 million kronor ($59 million) worth of shares.

The oversubscription means there was a high demand for Safello’s shares, but the firm will allot only $4.8 million worth of shares to some 1,500 new shareholders.

“We are thrilled to see the great interest in Safello’s shares and what it signals for the future of our industry,” said Safello co-founder and CEO Frank Schuil. “The prospect of a cryptocurrency-based financial system is picking up steam in Sweden and beyond.”

Safello first announced its intention to go public on February 16. Last month, the firm received preliminary approval from Nasdaq Stockholm for listing on Nasdaq First North. The IPO subscription opened from April 19 through April 30. The listing is now expected on May 12 under the ticker SFL.

Last month, U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase went public on Nasdaq via direct listing, becoming the largest direct listing in history. Coinbase rival Kraken could also go public via direct listing next year.

Elsewhere in the crypto market, merchant bank Galaxy Digital is also in the process of U.S. listing. The firm is already public in Canada via the Toronto Stock Exchange. Crypto exchange Gemini is also considering going public.

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Mixed martial arts league UFC is launching a fan token this June. A year after it first partnered with sports-focused blockchain platform Chiliz, the two will mint $UFC on the Chiliz blockchain. 

Chiliz and its token platform Socios.com have primarily focused on European soccer teams, enabling them to mint their own fan tokens. Those tokens are used by supporters to cast votes on club decisions and act as an additional revenue stream for teams. Now, so will the UFC. 

$UFC will give holders access to VIP rewards, exclusive promotions, chat forums and fan voting. Similar tokens are already used by soccer clubs like FC Barcelona and Manchester City. 

“UFC has more than 625 million fans around the world, and Fan Tokens are a unique way to connect with them through a compelling, authentic product that brings them closer to UFC and gives them influence, while also rewarding their passion for the sport,” said Tracey Bleczinski, Senior Vice President, UFC Global Consumer Products.

The launch comes amid a push to expand further outside of Europe by Chiliz and Socios.com. Chiliz has committed to focusing on bringing fan tokens to the U.S. this year, devoting at least $50 million to state-side projects. 

However, this particular development grew out of a partnership announced last year, which enabled holders of Chiliz native token, $CHZ, to receive exclusive UFC offers. At the time, the UFC said it would explore blockchain applications that could help grow the UFC brand.  

Last week, Chiliz announced a similar partnership with the National Hockey League’s (NHL) New Jersey Devils. Though the deal is currently a marketing partnership, the Devils are also exploring how blockchain applications could grow the club’s brand. 

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.