Elwood Technologies, the crypto trading platform established by British hedge fund billionaire Alan Howard, just received $70 million in Series A funding from two of the world’s largest financial banks, Goldman Sachs and Barclays.
According to a Financial Times report published on Sunday, this capital round was Elwood Technologies‘ first outside financing, bringing the company’s valuation to $500 million.
Several other noteworthy investors participated in the fundraising event, including the crypto-friendly German bank Commerzbank, venture capitalist Dawn Capital, and Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital.
Elwood Technologies presently offers crypto portfolio management services to institutional investors, including digital asset market data and trading infrastructure, as well as an interface that links to numerous exchanges, liquidity providers, and custodians.
Goldman Sachs’ global head of digital assets, Matthew McDermott, commented on the current fundraising round, saying that the bank’s investment in Elwood demonstrates its “continued commitment” to the crypto market.
“As institutional demand for cryptocurrency rises, we have been actively broadening our market presence and capabilities to cater to client demand.”
Despite the current gloomy position of the cryptocurrency market, Elwood believes that traditional financial institutions, such as hedge funds and banks, will continue to be interested in investing in the cryptocurrency field.
According to the source, Elwood’s funding round was already underway before the last black swan occurrence, which saw the global crypto market cap plummet by 15%.
Elwood’s CEO, James Stickland, reiterated the company’s comments, noting that the investment round’s success despite the crypto market’s upheaval was another validation of crypto’s endurance.
He stated:
“Financial institutions that invest in us aren’t expecting to get massive returns within 15 minutes. They are investing in the infrastructure, I believe it is a message of reassurance.”