AXA-backed Blockstream raises $210 million
Bitcoin infrastructure firm Blockstream has raised $210 million as part of a Series B financing on a valuation of $3.2 billion. Investors include Baillie Gifford and iFinex.
The new funding comes alongside the acquisition of Spondoolies’ intellectual property, and the core team joining Blockstream to build Blockstream’s ASIC arm. Spondoolies is a bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer founded by top Israeli semiconductor veterans. Since its inception in 2013, the Spondoolies team designed and built five different mining products and was one of the earliest teams in the bitcoin mining industry to deliver energy-efficient and high-performance mining hardware.
“Blockstream is bringing on-board the Spondoolies core team and acquiring related IP to launch the world’s first enterprise-class miner next year. The Spondoolies team’s pedigree in Bitcoin ASIC design and engineering complements our enterprise-class mining infrastructure, and will accelerate our continuing expansion and decentralisation of the bitcoin mining space.” – Dr Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream.
Both the funding and acquisition will advance Blockstream’s other mining products and services, including the recently announced Blockstream Energy product, which maximizes renewable energy investment returns at power production sites. This new mining infrastructure will be used in many partnerships around the world, including Blockstream’s collaboration with Square to develop an open-source, solar-powered mining facility in the United States.
The new capital will also expand Blockstream’s mission to build the financial infrastructure of the future, with bitcoin-focused financial products and the Liquid Network. The Liquid Network is a sidechain-based settlement network that enables faster, more confidential bitcoin transactions, and the issuance of digital assets for traders and exchanges. It is operated by a federation of cryptocurrency companies located around the world.
“Baillie Gifford is committed to backing transformational growth companies at their early stages. We have enormous respect for Blockstream’s founders and management team, and we believe its settlement network for bitcoin-based assets and securities has the potential to transform the design and operation of capital markets.” – Dr Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream.
