Bitcoin gets seal of approval as Baillie Gifford ploughs $100m into London crypto firm
One of the UK’s most well-know asset management firms has invested a hundred million dollars into London-based cryptocurrency company Blockchain.com.
Edinburgh’s Baillie Gifford – which has an enviable investment track record after being early backers of success stories like Google, Amazon, Airbnb and Tesla – has now effectively given Bitcoin its seal of approval by ploughing £72m into the nine-year-old wallet and exchange.
Blockchain.com – started by an industrious trio of two Yorkshiremen and an American in a cramped, two-bedroom flat in York almost a decade ago – has grown considerably since the embryonic days of cryptocurrency and the blockchain technology that underpins it.
Only last month, the company was valued at a staggering £3.8bn making wealthy men out of founders Peter Smith, Nicolas Cary and Ben Reeves.
CEO Peter Smith, who moved the cryptocurrency giant to new headquarters in London, hinted last month that huge investment was incoming as the firm looked to ‘aggressively expand products offered to customers’.
Cash injection
That investment has now been revealed to be a massive cash injection from Baillie Gifford.
The 110-year-old financial institution said it raised $300m in Series C funding last month, led by DST Global partners, Lightspeed Ventures, and VY Capital.
“Today we’re excited to publicly share that Baillie Gifford not only participated in that round, but invested $100M — the largest single investment in Blockchain.com to date,” announced a spokesman for Baillie Gifford.
“As one of their first investments in a crypto company, we’re honoured to include them on our journey to bring the next 1B people into crypto. It’s also a validation that a balanced and diversified retail/institutional business has incredible growth potential in the coming years.
“With additional resources and support we’ll continue to relentlessly improve our product, grow the business, and evangelise the crypto space.”