Crypto Mining Startup Bitfury Secures $80M From Galaxy Digital, Others 10

Crypto Mining Startup Bitfury Secures $80M From Galaxy Digital, Others

Bitfury Gains Traction, Secures Millions In Venture Capital

Even though you may not know of Bitfury, the crypto- and blockchain technology-centric startup has been making waves in the mining subindustry, in spite of the dismal performance of the cryptocurrency market, which has seen the aggregate value of all digital assets take a 75%+ haircut.

Per an official announcement from the London-based Bitfury Group, which is self-proclaimed as “the world’s leading full-service blockchain technology company,” has just concluded a private funding round that will see 80 million U.S. dollars enter its coffers, so to speak.

The private placement was reportedly led by Korelya Capital, a Europe-focused “growth capital” fund backed by Korean powerhouse Naver Group, with other prominent funds and investment consortiums, like Macquarie Capital, Dentsu, Armat Group, among others.

Interestingly, or unsurprisingly in the eyes of some, Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital joined the fray, also throwing capital at the mining-centric startup. This comes just days after Novogratz claimed that Bitcoin (BTC) could be poised for a breakout past $10,000 (and its all-time high) as 2019 rapidly approaches and Bakkt, Fidelity Digital Asset Services, along with other promising crypto platforms go live.

Alluding that Bitfury’s business ambitions may be undergoing a U-turn, Chief Executive Officer Valery Vavilov noted:

This private placement reflects our achievements, and it recognizes our ability to address adjacent market segments in high-performance computing, including in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI),

The industry leader went on to add that the “institutionalization of blockchain and cryptocurrencies” is a natural step for Bitfury to foray into, which is entirely logical when considering the fact that the crypto upstart has released an array of new products/platforms pertaining to software, like Exonum and Peach.

Commenting on his investment, Novogratz expressed his excitement, claiming that Galaxy Digital is “excited to partner with Bitfury” — subsequently adding that he is impressed with what Bitfury’s “unparalleled” team has accomplished and has in store for the future.

This news comes just five weeks after the startup revealed its next generation of Bitcoin SHA-256 ASICs, which are slated to outpace (and outhash) a majority of its competitors, such as mining machines from E*Bang, Bitmain, and Avalon (Canaan Creative), for a lower cost. Speaking on the development, the startup’s chief executive noted that his firm is doing its best to maximize return-on-investment (ROI) for its client. Vavilov added:

“Bitfury is looking at all factors, including silicon packaging, chip efficiency, optimal power distribution, cooling designs and speed of development when designing our mining hardware … We think that this will lead to solutions that deliver the best ROI to our customers – regardless of ASIC size.”

Although Bitmain has since made moves issue a similar announcement, which arguably ousts Bitfury Clarke, as Bitfury’s processing chip has been dubbed, many see the two aforementioned developments as promising signs for Bitfury. And, moreover, others would argue that this further cements the crypto industry’s legitimacy in the global venture capital space, which is a welcome step in the right direction.

Title Image Courtesy of Ant Rozetsky on Unsplash