KKR leads $350M raise for crypto custody bank Anchorage Digital

Major cryptocurrency custody bank Anchorage Digital has closed a fresh funding round, bringing its valuation to over $3 billion.

Anchorage Digital announced Dec. 15 that it raised $350 million in a series D round led by equity investment giant KKR.

According to the announcement, this is the first time for KKR to directly invest in equity in a company in the crypto industry. The company invested through its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund II, which is dedicated to developing equity investment in the technology space.

“As a pioneer in enabling institutional investors to access digital assets, Anchorage has built a best in class, institutional-grade digital asset platform that combines the best practices of both modern security and usability,” KKR’s senior leader of technology growth equity team, Ben Pederson, said.

The new raise also included a wide number of investors both in traditional finance and the cryptocurrency industry, including companies like Goldman Sachs investment bank and Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto firm Alameda Research. Other investors include venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, BlackRock, Blockchain Capital, Delta Blockchain Fund, PayPal and Kraken.

The new funding will help Anchorage Digital further expand its infrastructure and product offerings as well as continue growing its headcount, which has already increased by 175% in 2021.

Related: Celsius expands funding round to $750M, tips $7B to $10B valuation in 2022

“This funding positions Anchorage Digital to meet the unprecedented institutional demand for this rapidly evolving market,” Anchorage Digital co-founder and president Diogo Monica said.

Anchorage became the first crypto firm to receive a charter from the United States national bank regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, in January 2021. The firm subsequently raised $80 million in a series C round led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.