Babel Finance, a crypto firm providing a wide range of financial products for institutions, reached unicorn status after raising $80 million in a Series B funding round. The crypto financial services firm now has a valuation of $2 billion.
Crypto markets are currently in a severe bear phase. Despite that, a number of crypto firms are bagging multi-million dollar deals. Babel Finance is another addition to the list. It is a Hong Kong-based Bitcoin startup offering lending and borrowing services and other financial services products to big investors and institutions.
The Series B funding round was led by Dragonfly Capital, Circle Ventures and BAI Capital. The funding round also included new names like 10T Holdings and Jeneration Capital, and other investors from the Asia-Pacific region.
10T CEO and managing partner Dan Tapiero said, “Babel Finance has opened up a market with high barriers to entry. [It] has built a laudable reputation as a highly specialised and trusted crypto financial institution."
Babel Finance said that the fresh funding would be utilised to expand operations globally, especially in Latin America, North America, and the United Kingdom. The crypto firm also plans to double its present employee count of 200 people.
The $80 million fundraising has made Babel Finance one of the most valuable crypto financial services firms in the institutional services sector. Talking of 2021, Babel Finance had accumulated a loan debt of $3 billion in the third quarter. Babel actively traded derivatives worth $800 million every month and had created more than $20 billion in options products.
It was established in 2018 with the aim of developing crypto financial services infrastructure. Since 2018, Babel has been a significant participant and builder in the interest rate market and derivatives market in the crypto sector.
Babel is also the largest wholesale crypto financial services provider in the world. It serves a small coterie of customers of around 500. Its customers include crypto-native institutions, banks and investment funds, and high net worth accredited investors and family offices. The firm deals in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins largely.
The writer is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash