Japanese crypto trading platform Liquid announced that it has hit more than a $1 billion in valuation with the closure of a recent Series C funding round.
A press release published by Liquid on Wednesday stated that the funding round was led by venture capital firm IDG Capital with participation from Chinese crypto mining hardware manufacturer Bitmain Technologies.
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Launched in 2014, Liquid is a subsidiary of Japanese fintech giant Quoine. The platform allows its users to access a global network of cryptocurrency exchanges.
“Our vision is to make financial services accessible to all, which means bringing more people into the digital asset space so that anyone can be a part of it,” Mike Kayamori, CEO of Liquid, said.
“This first round of Series C funding from our two highly respected investors, IDG Capital and Bitmain, puts us in an incredibly strong position to make a global impact in 2019.”
Hitting $1 Billion in Valuation
Though the company is publicizing its newly acquired “Unicorn,” it did not disclose the amount it raised in the funding round. Bloomberg, however, revealed that the startup received a monetary commitment of around $50 million – a relatively small figure for $1 billion in valuation.
However, the massive valuation is not unusual in the tech industry, especially among crypto startups. Coinbase became the first crypto-related company to achieve a valuation of over a billion – $1.6 billion to be precise – in 2017 after securing $100 million. Last year, another funding round took its valuation to $8 billion, making it the most valued crypto company to date.
The Japanese crypto startup previously secured $20 million in a funding round from JAFCO, SBI, B Dash Ventures, Mistletoe, and ULS Group. In addition, the company also raised $100 million by selling its platform’s native cryptocurrency in 2017.
“IDG has been actively investing in the global crypto space since 2012, identifying some key players early,” Young Guo, general partner of IDG Capital, added. “We came to realize that Tokyo has emerged as a top destination for crypto innovation and it is our honor to back such visionary pioneers as Liquid Co-founders Mike Kayamori and Mario Gomez Lozada to carry out this innovation.”
Meanwhile, Finance Magnates yesterday reported that Liquid had introduced Bitcoin CFDs on its trading platform, offering 100x leverage.
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