Blockchain Capital, the first venture capital firm that focuses on the blockchain and crypto, has secured $300 million through a PayPal and Visa-led funding round. A report unveiled this news on June 22, noting that this was its fifth funding round, entitled Blockchain Capital V, LP. Reportedly, this financing round attracted strategic investors, pension funds, leading university endowments, and family offices across the globe.
According to the report, Visa and PayPal are some of the investors in Blockchain Capital V, LP that joined hands with Blockchain Capital as limited partners (LPs). While both companies have previously invested in startups in the nascent sector directly, their position as limited partners will see an outside manager make broader equity investments on their behalf. Per PayPal, this is its first LP agreement with a crypto VC firm.
Blockchain Capital, which has over $1.5 billion (£1.07 billion) in assets under management (AUM), intends to use the raised funds to forge strategic partnerships with experts in the crypto and blockchain industries. In so doing, it hopes to spur the growth of its business and protocols by focusing its investments in blockchain infra, DeFi, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and emerging blockchain technologies.
An insatiable appetite for crypto
While PayPal is a relatively new player in the crypto space, the online payments giant appetite for cryptocurrencies is growing steadily. After launching a service that allows US users to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies in October 2020, PayPal has been increasingly bolstering its position in the crypto space. In March, the company announced that it had started allowing US customers to pay for goods and services at millions of its online merchants in crypto.
According to the company’s Vice President and General Manager of blockchain, crypto, and digital currencies, Jose Fernandez da Ponte, they are committed to fostering an ecosystem of firms that make digital currencies more accessible, useful, and secure. He added that PayPal’s investment in Blockchain Capital V, LP would let the firm engage with entrepreneurs behind the future of the decentralized economy and a new array of financial services.
Sharing PayPal’s bullish outlook on crypto, Visa is also keen on investing in the burgeoning industry. The financial giant’s CFO, Vasant Prabhu, said Visa is focused on enhancing all forms of money movement on its network and beyond. He went on to that this joint venture with Blockchain Capital will see the company expand its efforts in shaping and supporting the role that cryptocurrencies play in the future.
