Blockstream Secures $210M in Series B Round, Valuation Shoots $3.2B
Coinspeaker
Blockstream Secures $210M in Series B Round, Valuation Shoots $3.2B
On Tuesday, August 24, blockchain infrastructure firm Blockstream announced a $210-million fundraise in Series B round. This further puts the company’s valuations at a staggering $3.2 billion.
The key players participating in the funding were iFinex, the parent company of Bitfinex. Besides, the UK-based investment management giant Baillie Gifford also participated.
Blockstream noted that it will leverage the new capital towards expanding its Bitcoin mining operations. Furthermore, part of the funds raised by Blockstream in its Series B round also goes towards the acquisition of Spondoolies, an Israel-based Bitcoin mining manufacturer. Blockstream’s acquisition of Spondoolies involves getting its intellectual property along with its entire employee base.
Since its formation in 2013, Spondoolies has designed and build five different crypto mining products. It has been one of the earliest players in the Bitcoin mining space. Spondoolies is popular for building high-performance, energy-efficient mining hardware. Speaking of the development, Dr. Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream said:
“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 decentralization of the Bitcoin mining space.”
Blockstream also said that funding will help to expand the company’s scope of innovative mining products and services. Besides, as the crypto industry shift towards the adoption of renewable energy, Blockstream has taken measures in this regard.
Blockstream recently unveiled its Energy product thereby maximizing renewable energy investment. The new mining infrastructure development happens through some key partnerships. To develop an open-source, solar-powered mining facility in America, Blockstream has collaborated with Square Inc.
Liquid Network – The Bitcoin-focused Financial Infrastructure
Since its formation in 2013, Blockstream has been working on building the Bitcoin-focused financial infrastructure, Liquid Network. Blockstream says that the Liquid Network is Bitcoin’s first and most robust sidechain.
The Blockstream Liquid Network offers sidechain settlements thereby assuring faster and confidential Bitcoin transactions. Besides, it also takes care of the issuance of digital assets for exchanges and traders. A federation of crypto companies around the world together operate the Liquid Network. Blockstream is further looking to expanding its financial infrastructure building more BTC-focused products. Allen Farington, an investment manager at Baillie Gifford said:
“It is an honor to be involved with such an important company in the space and to be able to drive forward development of and institutionalization of both mining and the Liquid Network. I am convinced of the potential of tokenized securities on the Liquid Network to be transformative for the architecture of capital markets”.
Bitcoin mining firms, especially in North America, have seen a major shoot in their business following the Chinese crackdown. Amid the growing demand from Bitcoin miners, another public-listed firm Riot Blockchain reported staggering earnings for Q2 2021.
Blockstream Secures $210M in Series B Round, Valuation Shoots $3.2B