Crypto trading platform Liquid.com has been backed by Bitmain and IDG Capital in a funding round that, it says, makes it the latest crypto unicorn.
The firm, which is owned by Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Quoine, announced Wednesday that, with the closing of the Series C round, its “over $1 billion” valuation makes it “one of only two tech unicorns in Japan’s startup space.”
Liquid.com, however, did not disclose the amount invested by IDG Capital and Bitmain, the former of which led the round.
The funds will be put toward global expansion and product development, as well as to support a move into the security token market, it said.
“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,” according to Liquid.com CEO Mike Kayamori.
Quoine launched the Liquid.com platform back in September to provide users with access to a “worldwide network of cryptocurrency exchanges.”
Liquid said it has previously raised more than $20 million from venture capital firms, including JAFCO, SBI, B Dash Ventures and ULS Group. While in 2017, it said it raised more than $100 million in a “pre-discounted” and “regulated” initial coin offering (ICO).
Bitmain co-founder Jihan Wu said:
“Japan is one of the leading nations in putting crypto industry under proper regulations, and Liquid Group has proven itself to be the exemplary player within such compliant rules.”
IDG Capital is notably an investor in Coinbase, Circle and Ripple, as well as other crypto startups including KuCoin and imToken. Bitmain has also invested in Circle, while other portfolio firms include derivatives and digital asset trading platform ErisX and EOS developer Block.One.
Unicorn image via Shutterstock