Bitcoin Financial Services Firm Unchained Capital Raises $60M

Unchained Capital has completed a $60 million Series B funding round led by Valor Equity Partners and including crypto asset-management giant NYDIG, the company said in a press release Tuesday.

The round opened to investors halfway through the first quarter of this year and had an initial close in April that included more than half of the total raised, a source close to the company told CoinDesk. The new capital will go towards growing the client base, improving the existing product suite and expanding product offerings.

It's a notably large fundraise given the extent of the crypto bear market that in the first third of 2023 is only beginning to show signs of turning around. Unchained itself wasn’t immune to the pressures of crypto winter, having cut its workforce by 15% in mid-November 2022.

Austin, Texas-based Unchained offers a collaborative custody solution that shares control of a user’s bitcoin between a private key the user holds and private keys held by Unchained and other financial services providers. The model utilizes bitcoin’s native multisignature capabilities to offer the benefits of self-custody without the risks that come with a single point of failure, such as a lost or stolen key. Unchained doesn’t have the ability to move or utilize client funds on its own, which were the types of actions that helped lead to crypto exchange FTX’s collapse. Unchained currently secures over $2 billion in bitcoin across thousands of keys, according to the company

Unchained also offers bitcoin-collateralized loans and has originated over $500 million of such loans since 2017 The firm’s other services include a trading desk, where clients can directly buy bitcoin and an IRA offering.

“In the midst of market chaos, Unchained has emerged as a highly trusted provider of bitcoin custody and financial services through superior technology, risk management, regulatory compliance, and client service,” said Valor partner Vivek Pattipati, who will be joining the Unchained board of directors. “Particularly in lending, the company has differentiated itself by minimizing risk to both the lender and the borrower, leading to resilience and an extraordinary opportunity to capture market share."

Other investors in the round included Trammell Venture Partners, Ecliptic Capital and Highland Capital Partners. NYDIG previously co-led the $25 million Series A for Unchained Capital in June 2021.

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