United Kingdom crypto trading platform Elwood Technologies — founded by hedge fund billionaire Alan Howard — said it raised $70 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Dawn Capital and global investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: NYSE:GS).
Elwood, in a statement, said other prominent investors were Barclays (LON:BARC) PLC (NYSE: BCS), BlockFi Ventures, Chimera Ventures, and CommerzVentures.
The investment was part of Elwood's first-outside fundraising and would value the five-year-old company at roughly $500 million, according to a Financial Times report.
The development assumes significance as the financing comes amid a major crypto crash that has the values of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) plummet.
Mathew McDermott, Global Head of Digital Assets at Goldman Sachs, said the move was inspired by the rising institutional demand for cryptocurrency.
"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," McDermott said.
Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, Bitcoin was trading at $29,599, down about half a percent at press time. Ethereum was trading at $2,010, down 1.24% over 24 hours.
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