Banking veteran raises $1.5 million to launch digital asset startup

Crazy Review : Crypto Facilities is headquartered in London, UK, and provides digital asset trading services. It has obtained a license issued by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It was jointly established by veterans of Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas last year. It has started seed round financing with a financing target of US$1.5 million. From the list of investors this time, it can be seen that institutional investors are gradually increasing their interest in such start-ups.

Translation: Annie_Xu

Crypto Facilities, a digital asset trading service, announced the start of a $1.5 million seed round of financing, led by Pamir Gelenbe’s AngelList.

Crypto has previously obtained a license from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and plans to use the investment to expand its product line, expand its workforce, develop cryptocurrencies, and work closely with US regulators.

Timo Schlaefer, CEO and founder of the company, said:

"In fact, we are expanding the company's platform by adding new products, assets, and derivatives. Providing people with more tools. The future development path of Bitcoin is relatively narrow, and we hope to expand it."

Schlaefer said the company plans to hire a number of new employees, primarily developers, over the next six to nine months.

Currently, the company is a designated representative of Met Facilities LLP, authorized and regulated by the FCA, but its services do not include U.S. consumers. The company plans to use part of its investment to build cooperation with U.S. and European regulators.

The company was founded by veterans of Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas last year and has quickly risen in the industry. In February, it developed XRP derivatives with Ripple, which will be available at the end of this month. The company also communicated with the Chicago derivatives market CME Group to develop two Bitcoin price benchmarks to help manage Bitcoin investment risks. CME is currently valued at $36 billion.

It was the collaboration with CME and the $150 million in Bitcoin derivatives trading for individual clients, investment banks and hedge funds that attracted lead investor Pamir Gelenbe, who had previously invested in digital currency exchange Kraken.

Scarce resources but outstanding achievements

Gelenbe, who brought together more than a dozen backers on AngelList to lead the investment, pointed out that Crypto had achieved so much with very little external investment, which was what attracted him to invest.

Pamir Gelenbe

But what ultimately made him decide to invest in a startup was the passion of the founders and the comparison between the Bitcoin derivatives market and the traditional derivatives market.

“In any mature derivatives market, derivatives trading cannot be compared to traditional stock trading. However, this is not the case in the Bitcoin market, but perhaps this will change in the future.”

Gelenbe said that so far institutional investors have been shying away from bitcoin investment due to "storage and security concerns." But as opportunities continue to emerge, there may be a turnaround.

"These people want to participate in derivatives trading, but they don't want to own these products."

The investment activity comes as startups slowly begin to attract the attention of institutional investors, including bitcoin exchange-traded funds like SolidX, which began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in July, and the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, which is awaiting approval from the Securities Exchange Commission.

Other corporate and individual investors participating in the seed round include Playfair Capital, String Ventures, hedge fund investor Lee Robinson and Digital Currency Group.