Despite lending crisis, Matrixport Crypto lender seeks $100M funding

Bitmain-backed crypto lender Matrixport is the other half of a new funding round targeting a $100 million raise.

“In order for Matrixport’s products to be separated from one another, we must emphasise that their underlying assets and fund flows are completely separated,” the firm said.

Despite the crypto market turmoil, $100 million Matrixport funding is in the process of being raised.

Matrixport is aiming to raise $100 million in a new round at a valuation of $1.5 billion, Bloomberg reported on Nov. 25. The deal has yet to be closed as Matrixport is still looking for investors for the other half of the round.

Matrixport, according to the company, is funding this new phase through its usual funding pipeline. “Matrixport routinely engages with important stakeholders, including investors who want to participate and help us realise our dream of becoming a digital assets financial services firm,” Ross Gan, Matrixport’s public relations chief, said.

Matrixport raised $100 million in August 2021 for a $1 billion valuation, becoming a unicorn.

The fundraise was backed by a number of renowned venture capital firms, including DST Global, C Ventures, and K3 Ventures. Other contributors included major industry investors like Tiger Global, Qiming Venture Partners, CE Innovation Capital, A&T Capital, among others. Existing investors like Polychain, Dragonfly Capital, Lightspeed, IDG Capital, and others invested too.

Matrixport handles $5 billion of trades each month and has trillions of dollars of assets under management and custody, according to Bloomberg data. The firm reportedly employs close to 300 people.

One of the largest cryptocurrency lenders in Asia, Matrixport was established in February 2019. The firm provides a wide range of crypto services, including trading and custody. In addition, the company offers cryptocurrency and stablecoin loans, zero-cost loans, and liquidation protection.

Despite the ongoing cryptocurrency lending crisis, Matrixport appears to be one of the few crypto lending platforms that has not been affected. According to NFTWatcher , several of the biggest cryptocurrency lending platforms in 2018 including Celsius and BlockFi have encountered major problems as a result of the ongoing bear market and the associated cryptocurrency lending crisis.

Matrixport, the cryptocurrency company founded by Wu, said that it was slightly affected by the FTX contagion, as Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange crashed. According to the firm, 79 of its users lost funds due to FTX issues, including the BTC Fixed Income Products and Victoria BTC Fund Products.

“We must emphasise that Matrixport’s products are physically segregated from each other so that a single impacted product will not affect the other products as the underlying asset and fund flow are isolated,” the firm said.