Financial trading platform Stellar has begun negotiations to acquire US-based blockchain technology provider Chain in a deal worth $500m that would enable several corporates to exit, Fortune reported on Wednesday.
The transaction price would be in the form of a mixture of cash and lumens, the digital currency created by Stellar according to Axios, which described the transaction as more of a merger, with Chain chief executive Adam Ludwin set to run the combined company.
Chain has built cryptographic ledger technology that enables businesses to securely store, track and their own crypto tokens. The technology was created for private ledgers but Chain intends to make it available for public trading in future.
The company has received $43.5m in funding since it was founded in 2014, including $30m in a 2015 series B round featuring payment services firm Visa, telecommunications company Orange, stock exchange operator Nasdaq and financial technology producer Fiserv.
Financial services firms Capital One and Citi also took part in the round, the latter through its Citi Ventures unit, as did Khosla Ventures, RRE Ventures, Thrive Capital, SV Angel and various private investors.
Khosla Ventures had previously led Chain’s $9.5m series A round in 2014, investing alongside Homebrew, 500 Startups, Pantera Capital, angel investors Kevin Ryan, Barry Silbert and Scott Banister, and existing backers RRE, Thrive Capital and SV Angel.