GIC Private Limited, a Singapore government-owned wealth fund, reportedly backed Coinbase’s $300 million funding round last year.
The news comes via a Bloomberg report on Thursday citing “people familiar with the matter.” This was possibly GIC’s first investment in the crypto space, the sources added.
The fund has more than $100 billion in assets in over 40 countries across various asset classes, the report adds, though the Sovereign Wealth Institute puts the total far higher at an estimated $390 billion.
Crypto exchange Coinbase announced the $300 million Series E equity round last October. At the time, neither the exchange nor GIC disclosed the fund’s participation.
The funding was led by Tiger Global Management, while Y Combinator Continuity, Wellington Management, Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain and others also participated. Coinbase said at the time that the raise gave it a “post-money valuation of over $8 billion.”
Large investment funds are increasingly starting to dip their toes in the digital assets space. Just last week, the University of Michigan, which has an endowment valued at about $12 billion, disclosed that it committed $3 million to Andreessen Horowitz’s cryptocurrency fund back in June. The university also said that it is considering further investment in the fund.
Yale University, which boasts second-largest endowment among educational institutions globally, also reportedly invested in Horowitz’s fund at the time, as well as backing Paradigm’s $400 million crypto fund last October.
Earlier this month, two public pension funds in Fairfax County, Virginia, backed Morgan Creek Capital’s crypto-focused venture fund that raised $40 million.
Further, Cambridge Associates, a pensions and endowments consultant, recently said that it’s time for institutional investors to consider getting into cryptocurrencies.
Coinbase image via CoinDesk archives