The Bitfury Group, a “full-service” blockchain technology firm, has reportedly closed an $80 million “private placement” – which was led by Korelya Capital, a Europe-based growth capital firm supported by South Korea’s internet giant, the Naver Group.
Asian, European Financial Organizations Join Private Placement
Other firms joining Bitfury’s private placement included billionaire Michael Novogratz’s crypto merchant bank, Galaxy Digital, Europe-based fund managers, Lian and Jabre Group, European investment firm, Armat Group, Asia-based financial services institution, Dentsu Inc., Macquarie Capital, MACSF insurance group, and “special situations” investment firm, Argenthal Capital Partners.
Additionally, European private equity firm, iTech Capital, contributed to the placement. Valery Vavilov, the co-founder and CEO of Bitfury, said:
2018 has been a year of incredible expansion for Bitfury. 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).
Vavilov added: “The institutionalization of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, partnered with the opportunity of these emerging technologies, is a natural expansion opportunity that Bitfury will build on — in 2019 and beyond.”
Taking “Corporate Governance To The Next Level”
George Kikvadze, the vice chairman of the Bitfury Group, noted:
With a half billion dollars in revenues, Bitfury is the leading blockchain B2B global technology infrastructure provider at the corporate and government level. This private placement will take our corporate governance to the next level, broaden our financial strategic options, and ideally position us for our next phase of growth as the market matures.
Antoine Dresch, the co-founder and managing partner at Korelya Capital, remarked:
We are joining Bitfury as a lead investor at an incredibly exciting time for both the company and the blockchain ecosystem. Bitfury has grown from a small startup to the largest western blockchain unicorn, equipped with worldclass leadership and expertise, consistently delivering innovative solutions across the entire blockchain ecosystem.
According to Bitfury’s official website, it specializes in providing enterprise level computing technologies and develops proprietary blockchain-based software for governments and private corporations.
Bitfury’s Tardis, Clarke ASIC, BlockBox
In 2018, the Bitfury Group introduced its latest bitcoin mining chip, Clarke ASIC model, the company’s “sixth-generation of chip design”, and a new line of high-end computing servers (the Bitfury Tardis).
According to Bitfury’s press release, both the newly launched Bitfury Tardis and the firm’s Clarke ASIC model are “significantly improving the performance” of the Bitfury BlockBox, a tool for managing a large-scale bitcoin mining operation.
Bitfury’s announcement further noted that public blockchains have “high” security requirements – which leads to excessive energy consumption. However, Bitfury has a more environmentally friendly approach as its data centers reportedly operate by using renewable energy.
Key Services: “Immersion Cooling” Tech, “Land-Titling”, Crystal Blockchain
The full-service blockchain firm has also developed a new type of “immersion cooling” technology – which helps to reduce the amount of electricity consumed by data centers.
Bitfury’s blockchain-focused team, Exonum, had announced earlier this year that it was expanding the coverage of its distributed ledger technology (DLT) based land-titling pilot to Bermuda.
The Bitfury Group has also launched Crystal Blockchain, a DLT analytics platform designed specifically for law enforcement agencies and large financial institutions. It reportedly provides “comprehensive” analytics for know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) checks required for blockchain-based transactions.
