- Series A funding round was dominated by the Peter Thiel-led Valar Ventures.
- Valar’s general partner believes that BlockFi will bring cryptocurrency mainstream.
BlockFi, a crypto lending firm announced earlier that it received $18.3 million in a Series A funding round led by Valar Ventures. Valar, which was founded in part by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, was joined by Winklevoss Capital, Galaxy Digital, ConsenSys, Akuna Capital, Susquehanna, CMT Digital, Morgan Creek, Avon Ventures and PJC.
Previously having invested in fintech firms like Transwise, Valar’s funding in BlockFi is its first investment in the crypto industry. James Fitzgerald, Valar’s general partner, said that BlockFi’s product is bringing cryptocurrency mainstream. He said:
“We are excited to help BlockFi build robust ‘picks and shovels’ for this emerging asset class.”
The Series A funding round took place five months after the launch of its bitcoin yield-bearing loans. Following the promised 6.2% interest rate, the product garnered $25 million in deposits after its launch on March 5th. Over $50 million was deposited in BlockFi’s interest-bearing accounts by late April. However, the market-topping rate was cut for larger accounts that same month. Accounts with deposits over 25 bitcoins or 500 ether had rates reduced to 2 percent annual yield.
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