Financial behemoths Barclays and Goldman Sachs are investing in Elwood Technologies, a crypto infrastructure and market data platform founded by billionaire Alan Howard.
In a new press release, the crypto trading platform says that it raised $70 million in the Series A funding round that was co-led by Goldman Sachs and early-stage venture fund Dawn Capital.
Barclays participated alongside other firms such as crypto-focused venture capital giant Digital Currency Group and the Mike Novogratz-led digital asset investment firm, Galaxy Digital.
The Series A funding round puts the value of Elwood Technologies at approximately $500 million, according to Financial Times.
Says Mathew McDermott, global head of digital assets at Goldman Sachs,
“As institutional demand for cryptocurrency rises, we have been actively broadening our market presence and capabilities to cater for client demand. Our investment in Elwood demonstrates our continued commitment to digital assets and we look forward to partnering to expand our capabilities.”
According to the Financial Times, the Series A funding round was concluded before last week’s crash which wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars in crypto’s total market capitalization.
Bitcoin (BTC) fell to a low of $26,700, a level last reached in December of 2020. The flagship cryptocurrency has since recovered to about $30,100 but it is still down over 50% from the all-time high of $69,044 hit in November of 2021.
British billionaire Alan Howard will remain as the principal investor of Elwood Technologies, which was initially founded to manage his personal crypto portfolio. Howard is the co-founder of the European hedge fund, Brevan Howard Asset Management.
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