Chainalysis, a blockchain data platform, secured $170 million in a series F funding round, which has more than doubled its market value to $8.6 billion
The funds will be used to scale up the start-up's global operations as demand for digital assets grows.
Chainalysis provides data and market intelligence software that is used to help solve some of the world’s biggest financial crimes. It works with government agencies, exchanges, financial institutions and insurance and cyber security companies in more than 60 countries.
The latest financing round was led by Singapore's GIC, a sovereign wealth fund managing the Asian city-state's foreign reserves.
Previous investors, including US investment companies Accel, Blackstone, Dragoneer and FundersClub, joined the round, further raising their investments in the company.
Bank of New York Mellon and Emergence Capital were also part of the round, Chainalysis said on Thursday.
The development also makes the New York-based company the biggest software-as-a-service company in the cryptocurrency industry, it said.
With its new valuation, Chainalysis is now the 66th-largest start-up in the world, according to comparable data from CB Insights.
This funding will also spur growth globally, especially in Europe, the Mena region, the Asia-Pacific and South America, said Michael Gronager, co-founder and chief executive of Chainalysis.
“With the capital, we are building out our vision as the data platform for cryptocurrency. That means investing in our underlying data set, and the growing DeFi [decentralised finance] and non-fungible token space in particular,” he told The National.
“We are continuing to grow and this round will help fuel further innovation, allowing us to invest in products, sales and marketing, especially as we see more crypto use cases unlocked."
Chainalysis' new funding could be a vote of confidence for cryptocurrencies, as the wildly volatile market is facing another challenging time amid a global flight from riskier investments.
Bitcoin, the first and biggest cryptocurrency, dropped below $30,000 on Tuesday, the first time it fell beyond that key threshold since July 2021.
Its price slid further to $26,638.92 as of 11am UAE time on Thursday, down by about 13 per cent in the past 24 hours and about a third in the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap.
Only five out of the top 100 cryptocurrencies have managed to register gains in the past week, data from the site showed.
Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Dublin-based capital market company Avatrade, wrote in a note on Thursday that it was clear “that bulls have lost the battle and the selling pressure is very much on".
“The big question for traders is if the current sell-off will shock holders," he said.
“The bloodbath in cryptos continues and traders are eyeing the next support level, which is at $25,000 and followed by $22,000."
However, Mr Gronager believes that the cryptocurrency and equity markets are moving in a correlated fashion, reacting to macroeconomic conditions.
“I view the market in two modes: build and execute. In a bull market, that’s when you see a lot of growth and execution," he said. “As long as you know what to do, the bear market is actually where everything gets built. You are preparing for the next bull."
Chainalysis’ customers have had “huge success" disrupting criminal activity and recovering funds.
In November 2021, the US Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division said it seized more than $3.5bn worth of cryptocurrencies, representing 93 per cent of all funds it seized during that time period.
“Trust and transparency is crucial to cryptocurrency’s success. When law enforcement and regulators become comfortable with cryptocurrency, exchanges are able to grow and financial institutions can enter the ecosystem safely and responsibly," Mr Gronager said.
Chainalysis' expansion has steadily grown over the past year, anchored by a series E funding round in July 2021 that valued the company at $4.2bn. It was able to raise its client base by three quarters to more than 750 customers in 70 countries, doubling and tripling its private sector and financial services customer bases, respectively.
The company now counts more than 100 financial institutions as customers, and has increased the number of clients that account for more than $100,000 in annual recurring revenue by three quarters to 150.
The series E financing round also paved the way for partnerships, with new types of customers including non-fungible token platforms such as Canada's Dapper Labs, FinTech organisations such as California-based Robinhood and traditional financial institutions such as BNY Mellon, New Jersey's Cross River Bank and Australia’s Commonwealth Bank.
