BitGo acquires digital securities platform startup Harbor to extend its capabilities to a wider class of digital assets for institutional investors

BitGo, the world’s largest processor of on-chain Bitcoin transactions, announced today that it is acquiring Harbor, a digital securities platform that is reengineering private securities with blockchain technology to help usher in a new wave of tokenized securities backed by real-world assets, such as real estate, company equity, investment funds, and fine art. The acquisition extends BitGo’s capabilities to address a wider class of digital assets for institutional investors and provides a foundation for a full-stack digital assets solution.

Harbor was formed in 2017 with the goal of becoming the one-stop shop platform for security token issuers and received investments from leading venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz, Craft Ventures, Fifth Wall, Valor Equity Partners and VY Capital. In November 2019, Harbor became a registered transfer agent with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), becoming the first blockchain company to be both a FINRA-registered broker-dealer and a SEC-registered transfer agent for digital assets.

“Our vision has always been bigger than wallets and custody and acquiring Harbor furthers BitGo’s vision of building a new digital infrastructure for financial services,” said Mike Belshe, CEO, BitGo. “We believe participants will ultimately need trusted, full-stack solutions for digital currencies and now BitGo is well positioned to address institutional requirements as the market develops.”

Founded in 2013 by Ben Davenport, Michael Belshe, and Will O’Brien, the Palo Alto, California-based BitGo is the world’s largest processor of on-chain Bitcoin transactions, processing 15% of all global Bitcoin transactions, and $15 billion per month across all cryptocurrencies. BitGo provided institutional investors with security, custody, and liquidity solutions. BitGo processes over 20% of all global bitcoin transactions, and supports over 200 coins and tokens.

BitGo’s customer base includes the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges and spans more than 50 countries. In 2018, it launched BitGo Trust Company, the first qualified custodian purpose-built for storing digital assets. BitGo is backed by Craft Ventures, Digital Currency Group, DRW, Galaxy Digital Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Redpoint Ventures, and Valor Equity Partners.

“BitGo has been an important partner since Harbor inception. We’ve worked closely together to integrate BitGo Business Wallets and BitGo Custody into Harbor’s services,” said Josh Stein, CEO, Harbor. “Harbor provides BitGo with a complementary technology stack for the lifecycle of digital securities, as well as important service capabilities through our digital assets broker-dealer and transfer agent subsidiaries.”

BitGo provides institutional clients with security, custody, and liquidity solutions for digital assets. The acquisition of Harbor follows BitGo’s acquisition of Hedge, a leader in the scalable, programmatic deployment of staking infrastructure, which formed the foundation of BitGo Staking.

“BitGo and Harbor have worked together on their shared commitment to build the digital asset infrastructure that traditional institutional investors need,” said Brad Greiwe, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Fifth Wall. “The digital assets market needs trusted solutions and services which makes this acquisition both a perfect fit and a natural next step.”