Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Barclays PLC (LSE:BARC) have joined a US$70mln funding round for Elwood Technologies, an institutional crypto trading platform.
The Series A funding round valued the London-based firm at around US$500mln.
Billionaire British hedge fund manager Alan Howard founded Elwood to manage his personal digital assets, before in 2020 pivoting from selling asset management software to selling market data, and asset management software to clients interested in investing in digital assets.
The platform is similar to Bloomberg's popular terminal and BlackRock's portfolio management platform, Aladdin, according to James Stickland, who is chief executive of Elwood.
German bank Commerzbank, crypto billionaire Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital (TSX-V:GLXY), and European investment group Dawn Capital also took part in the round.
"We have entered a new chapter in Elwood's journey and continue to expand our capabilities, enabling our institutional clients to provide their users with improved access to digital assets. The rich mix of investors participating in this raise reaffirms the movement of financial institutions working closely with their native digital asset technology providers," Strickland said.
James Stickland, chief executive of Elwood Technologies said in a statement.In light of recent crypto price falls, he added the fundraising was "another validation of the longevity of crypto."
"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," said Mathew McDermott, Goldman's global head of digital assets said.