US-based digital currency technology provider Nydig secured $200m yesterday in a growth financing round co-led by insurance providers MassMutual and New York Life.
The corporates co-led the round with Nydig’s parent company, asset manager Stone Ridge Holdings, as well as investment bank Morgan Stanley, Soros Fund Management and FS Investments. The round additionally featured Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) and FinTech Collective.
Founded in 2017, Nydig operates a secure, audited and insured custody platform where institutional clients can hold the digital currency Bitcoin. The offering enables, for example, banks to deploy consumer products tapping into the currency or to offer US dollar loans against Bitcoin.
Robert Gutmann, co-founder and CEO of Nydig, said: “The firms participating in this round are more than investors – they are partners, each well known to us for years.
“Nydig will be working with these firms on Bitcoin-related strategic initiatives spanning investment management, insurance, banking, clean energy and philanthropy.
“These partnerships leave no doubt that institutional adoption of Bitcoin has arrived and, further, that Nydig is the partner of choice for serious financial services firms with the highest fiduciary and diligence standards.
“In the months and quarters ahead, look out for an explosion of innovation in Bitcoin products and services delivered by Nydig, in partnership with our new investors.”
MassMutual had previously provided $5m in funding for Nydig in December 2020, when the insurer also purchased $100m worth of Bitcoin in a transaction facilitated by the company.
Nydig had secured $50m in funding from undisclosed financial services firms, insurance providers, investment banks and asset managers two months earlier. It identified BVP and FinTech Collective as the respective lead investors of two earlier rounds but did not confirm the details.
