Crypto startup Paxos joins the unicorn club at a $2.4 billion valuation after raising $300M in funding to grow its blockchain infrastructure platform

As bitcoin surges past $60,000, cryptocurrency startups see renewed interest from investors who want to take advantage of the current momentum for fear of missing out (FOMO). Regardless of your view on Bitcoin, no one can deny the potential of the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

In the 13 years since its inception, Bitcoin has climbed exponentially from $0.08 to over US$62,000. Gold, the closest comparable asset to cryptocurrencies, has risen just 627 percent over the last 101 years ($283 in January 1921 to $1,776 in April 2021). However, for investors, the real value is not in bitcoin but the underlying technology infrastructure that powers it–blockchain.

In recent months, deep-pocket investors are beginning to open their wallets to promising cryptocurrency and blockchain startups. One of the leading crypto startups is Paxos, a New York-based fintech startup that provides blockchain-based services to financial institutions and operates a cryptocurrency exchange. We wrote about Paxos back in December 2020 after it closed $65 million in Series B funding to grow its blockchain-powered trust settlement platform.  Since then, Paxos has seen exponential growth.

Today, Paxos announced it has raised $300 million in funding, which puts the company at $2.4 billion, making it a new member of the highly coveted unicorn startup club. The round was led by fintech and healthcare-focused venture capital firm Oak HC/FT, with participation from existing investors, including PayPal Ventures, Declaration Partners, and Senator Investment Group.

The latest investment in Paxos underscores surging investor interest in crypto firms, which have seen their perceived value increase in lockstep with bitcoin’s rise. Back in 2020, PayPal partnered with Paxos to allow customers to store and shop using Bitcoin and other virtual coins through its online wallet.

“Demand for our enterprise solutions has accelerated much faster than we could have anticipated,” said Charles Cascarilla, co-founder and chief executive officer of Paxos.

Founded in 2013 by Charles Cascarilla and Richmond Teo, Paxos’s flagship service is Bankchain(TM), a next-generation blockchain settlement platform that is transforming post-trade across capital markets. Bankchain delivers instantaneous settlement and greater automation, offering market participants reduced counterparty risk, lower capital requirements, and increased operational efficiencies.

“In the last year, global adoption of crypto and blockchain-based solutions by enterprises has accelerated. We are proud to count among our clients’ global leaders in payments, banking, trading, and fintech, such as PayPal, Credit Suisse, Societe Generale, and Revolut. Paxos is uniquely positioned to address the digital asset needs of global brands and bring our solutions to enterprises with trillions in assets and billions of end-users. We are grateful for the support of our new investment partners which helps bring us closer to our vision for a more open, accessible economy,” Charles Cascarilla, CEO and Co-Founder of Paxos, said