FinTech startup FalconX, which offers a trading platform, as well as prime brokerage services, to institutions interested in trading cryptoassets has announced an investment from American Express Ventures.
FalconX was founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneurs Raghu Yarlagadda (CEO) and Prabhakar Reddy (COO). It has offices in San Francisco, Chicago, Bangalore, and Valetta.
According to FalconX’s press release, American Express’s venture arm “joined existing investors Accel, Accomplice VC, Coinbase Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, Flybridge Capital Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Avon Ventures, a venture capital fund affiliated with FMR LLC, the parent company of Fidelity Investments, adding to the $17 million in funding FalconX announced on May 13, 2020.”
FalconX “serves 250 institutional clients, up 150% from May 2020, and its transaction volumes have tripled to around $3 billion on a monthly basis, making it one of the largest full-service providers.”
FalconX Co-Founder and CEO Raghu Yarlagadda had this to say:
“We’re seeing growing interest from traditional asset managers who are adding cryptocurrencies as an inflationary hedge, catalyzed by recent macro-economic policies. It is a great pleasure to welcome American Express Ventures as we continue to invest in expanding FalconX’s product offering.”
And Harshul Sanghi, Global Head of American Express Ventures, stated:
“FalconX is helping bring simplicity to the increasingly complex digital asset space through a platform that provides discovery and pricing all in one place. Amex Ventures invests in startups as a way to better understand emerging areas of the payments ecosystem, and we are pleased to support FalconX as it continues to drive innovation in the digital asset space, including digital currencies.”
According to a report by Bloomberg, this is not the first time that American Express has shown interest in the blockchain/crypto space:
“AmEx has been investigating cryptocurrencies for years. In 2019, the company rolled out an app that uses blockchain — the digital ledger behind many cryptocurrencies — to let contractors and vendors reconcile invoices and time sheets.
“Amex Ventures remains an investor in Abra, which allows for trading of cryptocurrencies. AmEx has also tested using blockchain to let merchants create tailored offers involving membership rewards points, and enabling international business-to-business payments.”
