The rate at which traditional financial systems are integrating cryptocurrencies was underscored yesterday as stock exchange operator Nasdaq, Chicago Trading Company and a number of banks backed the $30m series B round for digital asset data provider Amberdata.
Founded in 2017, Palo Alto-based Amberdata provides data on crypto markets, blockchain networks and decentralised finance for some of the largest financial and digital asset institutions, like Citi, Coinbase and Nasdaq.
“The rate of institutional adoption of crypto is truly astounding,” said Shawn Douglass, Amberdata’s chief executive.
“We have seen our revenue double in the first quarter of this year as the world’s largest financial institutions come to us for the critical data they need for research, trading, risk, analytics, reporting and compliance as they enter digital assets.”
Integrating digital assets into the mainstream financial ecosystem is one of the major challenges facing institutions today, given the inherent volatility, legal and technological implications. Demand for digital assets has moved far beyond just crypto enthusiasts and now permeates through customers of all stripes – from casual Bitcoin buyers to high net-worth individuals, family offices and large institutions.
As a result, there has been a growing demand for crypto analytics, and startups in this area are growing fast. Dune Analytics became a unicorn with a valuation of $1bn after a series B round in February. Paris-based Kaiko raised a $24m series A round last year. Amberdata is valued at $330m and has raised a total of $47m to date.
Amberdata plans to use the money to expand the business and to develop new products, such as new market intelligence and risk analysis applications as well as digital asset indices, Douglass said.
In addition to Nasdaq, Coinbase and Chicago Trading Company, cryptocurrency exchange Nexo, financial services firms NAB and Citi and trading firm Susquehanna International Group all backed the series B round.
For many of the investors, this is one of a series of recent investments in digital asset offerings for institutional customers. Coinbase’s corporate venturing unit Coinbase Ventures invested an undisclosed amount in Hyperithm, a digital asset manager for institutional investors, last month after investing in its series B round last year. Nexo also took part in a $37m series A round for BlockFills, a provider of digital asset liquidity for institutional clients, in January this year.
Knollwood Investment Advisory led the round with backing from Franklin Templeton, Aspenwood Ventures, Rovida Kruptos Assets, Innovius and Bolstart Ventures.
Citi led the company’s $15m series A round in September last year, which also featured Galaxy Digital, Franklin Templeton, Rovida Kruptos Assets, HWVP and executives from GoldenTree Asset Management. HWVP previously provided $2m of seed funding in 2017.
Photo courtesy of Amberdata.
