New York Stock Exchange and Former Citigroup CEO Invest in Coinbase
The previously leaked rumor of Coinbase raised $75 million is now confirmed. The company did, in fact, raise that much money and the investor list is juicy for speculators and bitcoin lovers alike.
In their announcement, Coinbase said their fundraiser is something they’re honored to be a part of, stating the following:
“Today’s fundraise gives us solid growth capital to continue driving mainstream, global adoption of Bitcoin. We are honored to be joined by such a prestigious group of investors and remain focused on helping Bitcoin continue to grow in 2015 and beyond.”
Coinbase Says, “Meet The Investors!”
According to an official announcement, Coinbase raised $75 million in Series C financing, making them the recipient of the largest bitcoin funding round to date. The funding was led by DFJ Growth as well as returning investors such and Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures, but the real story is in the smaller, but incredibly important, investments.
Along with the leaders, it seems as though significant contributions were made by the New York Stock Exchange, USAA and BBVA. All three investors are major financial institutions that must have seen potential in Coinbase’s platform in order to put their fiat currency behind it.
Along with the institutions, former Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit and for Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer made personal investments in the bitcoin company.
The most interesting part of this round of investments is that this is the first time major financial institutions saw potential in a bitcoin company and were willing to put their money behind. Coinbase has certainly made a name for itself, especially with their recent partnership with PayPal, but financial institutions have often looked down on bitcoin.
Also Read: PayPal Celebrates 15 Years; Plans for “Beaming to Bitcoin”
In announcement following the investment, NYSE President Tom Farley expressed his excitement of the new venture.
“With this investment, we are tapping into a new asset class by teaming up with a leading platform that is bringing transparency, security and confidence to an important growth market. We look forward to supporting Coinbase’s growth utilizing our global distribution capabilities and market expertise.”
Legislation like BitLicense often looks like a bill “constructed by bankers” who are trying to put the heat on bitcoin companies, so the implications of these institutions investing in Coinbase may be favorable. If more financial platforms start to warm up to the idea of investing in the bitcoin infrastructure, users may see more popularity and acceptance in the future.
There may be no correlation to price, but it looks like the announcement might lead to more “good news” in the future. Of course, as many bitcoin day-traders know, the market rarely reacts the way it’s expected to any news. In fact, a running joke amongst traders is that good news may correlate to a dip in price whereas bad news may often raise it.
International Expansion, The Leak and The Company
Coinbase also noted that their international expansion looks to flourish in 2015 due to investments by NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile telecommunications operator.
Earlier today, the announcement that Coinbase raised $75 million was leaked on accident by the Wall Street Journal. The leak was one sentence but was taken down almost immediately. It’s assumed that the WSJ accidently broke an embargo on the information, but the reason for the accident is still unconfirmed.
According to Coinbase, their total capital raised is now $106 million. Other investors in their company include Ribbit Capital, SV Angel, IDG Ventures, Funders Club, Start Fund, Combinator, Adam Draper, Greg Kidd and Garry Tan.
