Fireblocks crypto startup raises $133M in funding round with BNY Mellon

BNY Mellon, the oldest bank in the United States, continues to aggressively invest in the digital asset industry.

According to a March 18 report by the Wall Street Journal, cryptocurrency startup Fireblocks has raised $133 million in a Series C funding round featuring BNY Mellon as well as hedge-fund firm Coatue Management, venture-capital firm Ribbit Capital, and Stripes.

BNY Mellon’s strategic investment in Fireblocks is reportedly part of the bank’s plans to implement Fireblocks’s technology in its upcoming crypto custody platform. As previously reported, BNY Mellon officially announced the formation of a dedicated digital asset unit to create a multi-asset custody and administration platform for traditional and digital assets.

Fireblocks was founded in 2018 by veterans of Israeli military intelligence including Michael Shaulov, who previously co-founded a mobile security startup, Lacoon Mobile Security. The firm specializes in digital asset custody and also works on accelerating the speed of digital transactions. According to the WSJ, the latest funding round brings Fireblocks’ valuation to over $900 million, with the firm raising a total of $179 million so far.

BNY Mellon and Fireblocks did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

BNY Mellon is not the only banking institution that has been preparing to launch its own crypto custody solution. Deutsche Bank is also planning to move into the crypto custody business, alongside trading and token issuance services.

Bryan Routledge, associate professor of finance at Carnegie Mellon University, claimed that crypto custody is not that different from traditional services already offered by legacy banks. Storing a public and private key pair is important, “but it’s not that difficult,” or should not be for most banks, he sai