BlockFi has raised $52.5 million from Galaxy Digital Ventures LLC, a digital currency and blockchain technology investment firm founded by Mike Novogratz. This deal includes a loan purchasing facility and equity investment, making this the industry’s first institutional investment in cryptoasset backed loans.
“We’re excited to partner with BlockFi and jointly lead the way for financial institutions to participate in crypto investing strategies,” said Mike Novogratz, Founder of Galaxy Digital Ventures LLC. “A robust lending market is the keystone for financial systems and BlockFi’s institutional approach and deep lending expertise were key drivers in our decision to partner with them.”
Since our launch in January, we’ve been able to prove to investors that there is significant demand for crypto-to-USD lending. Our customers have reaffirmed this with overwhelming positive feedback. The market demands trustworthy financial partners, especially in an industry like ours. BlockFi is poised to fulfill that role in the crypto-lending space.
Our customers range from world-travelers to first-time home buyers to industrial-scale miners. What do these people all have in common? They’re all crypto investors looking for fast, simple, affordable, and reliable access to USD without having to sell or trigger taxable events. What does that break down to specifically?
- Fast — BlockFi can take you from application-to-funding in as little as 1.5 hours, having the money transferred directly into our customers’ bank account. We know how important quick liquidity is to our clients and we strive to satisfy that demand.
- Simple — BlockFi customers can repay loans at any time without fees or penalties. While other lenders force you to buy their token to take advantage of subject-to-change offers, BlockFi keeps things simple with lending deals you would expect to see from traditional financial service providers.
- Affordable — BlockFi offers the best rates in the industry. We want to help our clients reach their goals. That means providing the most affordable terms for our customers.
- Reliable — BlockFi’s white-glove service extends from our customer relations to our institutional backing. Our team of lending veterans are always on-hand to help customers through our funding process. Additionally, since we use an institutional custodian, your funds are always safe.
“Galaxy’s investment and decision to make us their exclusive consumer lending partner is a strategic step towards BlockFi delivering credit across the crypto ecosystem,” said CEO and co-founder Zac Prince. “The support we’ve seen from existing clients and investors highlight the strong demand for leveraging Bitcoin or Ether for low-cost USD loans. We look forward to expanding our services to support more cryptocurrencies and more geographic markets in the near future.”
As part of the investment, Chris Ferraro, Head of Principal Investments at Galaxy Digital Ventures LLC joined the BlockFi Board of Directors. We’re very excited to have Chris as a part of the BlockFi team. His appointment is a significant addition to an already deep team of fintech and banking veterans who have migrated to the blockchain industry from the traditional finance sector.
“BlockFi has differentiated itself in the lending business with capital cost and scale, which will help them raise incremental institutional capital as demand grows”, said Chris Ferraro, Head of Principal Investments at Galaxy Digital Ventures LLC. “We believe BlockFi’s risk management lens, regulatory approach, and marketing capabilities position the firm to be the market leader.”
BlockFi sets itself apart from other cryptoasset lenders by pairing the lowest rates for crypto-to-USD borrowing with institutional-quality benefits. We also have the most U.S. state lending licenses in the country. This is a testament to our commitment to a robust legal and compliance approach to our business.
With the closing of this deal, our team is excited to ramp-up our marketing and business development efforts and begin making this service available to more people, in a variety of cryptocurrencies, in more geographies in the near future.
Thanks for your support. Feel free to get in touch and let us know if you have any questions. We love hearing from you.
The BlockFi Team
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