Anchorage prepares for institutions with $80 million Series C

TL;DR Breakdown

• Anchorage has raised $80 million Series C to expand its services. 
• The company is also planning to become a crypto partner with several banking institutions.

The United States-based digital currency custodian with a federal banking charter, Anchorage, announced on Thursday that it had successfully closed an $80 million funding round. The fresh capital will be directed towards expanding its digital banking services to onboard more institutions looking to get access to digital assets. Among other things, the crypto custodian plans to enable more institutions to participate in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.

Anchorage raises $80 million for institutional service

Per the announcement, the company secured the $80 million capital in Series C. The funding round was led by GIC and other prominent companies, including a16z, Blockchain Capital, Lux, and Indico. Anchorage noted that there had been an increase in interest among corporations and traditional financial institutions looking to participate in the digital assets space. Hence, the fresh capital raised will be used to expand their services to better meet the growing demand.

The co-founder of Blockchain Capital, W. Bradford Stephens, commented:

“Anchorage has gone through a brilliant metamorphosis — from a world-class custody solution to the standard-bearer for crypto banking. In just a few short years, they’ve already been a powerful, catalytic force for institutional adoption, regulatory confidence, and overall maturation of the space.”

As Anchorage outlined in the report, they are planning to make their digital currency lending more seamless and secure, support emerging corporate use cases, make DeFi more accessible for institutions, and also becoming a crypto partner to neo, challenger, and traditional banks.

Anchorage banking charter

Crypto custody companies have been actively working on expanding their services, following the growing attention of deep-pocketed investors and corporations in the space. Earlier this year, Anchorage was awarded a federal banking charter by the United States OCC, making the company the first with such a status in the crypto space. The banking charter was filed in November 2020, as Cryptopolitan reported.