In brief
- Blockchain data company Chainalysis expects to raise $100 million in Series C funding next week.
- That raise would value the firm at $1 billion.
- The funding round is led by venture capital firm Addition.
Chainalysis, a data and analysis firm that helps companies and government agencies conduct investigations in the blockchainblockchain space, is about to raise $100 million dollars in Series C funding at a $1 billion valuation.
According to a new report from Forbes, the funding round is led by the VC firm Addition, and backed by Accel, Benchmark, and Ribbit.
Forbes says the firms have already signed on, and that the final paperwork should be completed next week. Chainalysis did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.
The company has been instrumental in taking down all kinds of blockchain criminals, from money launders to terrorists. Chainalysis often works with government agencies (the US Air Force reportedly shelled out $800k for its services), but has also worked with private companies, like the digital payment giant Square.
How Chainalysis Helps Catch Cryptocurrency Criminals
In 2014, the operators of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Mt. Gox, disclosed that hackers had drained 650,000 Bitcoin (worth about $500 million at the time). The ensuing chaos gave Michael Gronager, founder and CEO of Chainalysis, an idea: Since blockchain ledgers are public, what if someone created a tool that sifted through all of that data and traced the stolen money? So Gronager, then COO at Kraken, the crypto exchange that was supporting the Mt. Gox investigation, built one. Wi...
Just last week, Chainalysis announced a new program to better help governments handle their stores of legally-seized cryptocurrency—like that stash of $1 billion worth of Bitcoin linked to dark web marketplace Silk Road.
Chainalysis has also hinted at plans to purchase another security firm in the near future, and said that even if the company isn’t exactly making money right now, it’s on “the edge of profitability.”
Per Forbes, Chainalysis’ revenue is set to double in 2021, and again in 2022.
