Digital asset management company Monochrome completes Series A financing, valued at $15 million

Australian digital asset manager Monochrome has closed a $1.8 million Series A funding round led by some of the most influential crypto entrepreneurs, highlighting the growing potential for institutional-grade crypto asset solutions.

The Series A round was led by Litecoin founder Charlie Lee, Blockstream Chief Strategy Officer Samson Mow, former Binance CFO Wei Zhou, and Blueshyft and DeFi protocol Synthetix founder Kain Warwick. Moncolor’s total valuation is approximately $15 million.

Monochrome was launched earlier this year by former Binance Australia CEO Jeff Yew with the goal of providing an institutional platform for cryptocurrency investing. The company is best known for the Monochrome Bitcoin Fund, a capital growth vehicle for investors. The fund aims to allocate nearly 100% of its funds to physical Bitcoin, which is held in custody by US trust company BitGo Trust.

Like other developed industrialized countries, cryptocurrency regulation in Australia is still in its infancy. Digital asset trading is legal in the country and is subject to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations. Australia's financial regulator recently warned citizens not to use unregistered cryptocurrency businesses.

Like other asset managers focused on cryptocurrencies, Moncolor is targeting institutional investors to bring them into the digital asset economy. The demand for cryptocurrencies among institutional players appears to be growing, as evidenced by large inflows into products such as Grayscale and CoinShares. The survey of institutional investors also showed that a large portion of wealth managers are planning to purchase crypto investments or increase their exposure to these assets.

As Bitcoin stands the test of time, more investors may seek exposure to digital assets in pursuit of broader macroeconomic goals. Now that crypto investing has become significantly less risky from a professional reputation perspective, financial advisors may lead the charge.