GIC invests in blockchain-forensics firm Chainalysis, raising valuation to US$8.6 billion as governments gear up to fight illegal activity
- The New York-based company gets US$170 million in a round of funding led by the sovereign wealth fund
- The deal comes amid a broad sell-off in the US$1.3 trillion cryptocurrency market, as bitcoin drops to a 17-month low
Chainalysis, which provides blockchain analysis and data services, said it has secured US$170 million in funding from investors including Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, as wider cryptocurrency adoption fuels demand for forensic tools that enable market surveillance.
The New York-based company, which counts some of the world’s tax authorities including the US Internal Revenue Service as customers, is now valued at US$8.6 billion. Additional investors in this round, all of whom invested in earlier rounds, include Blackstone, Bank of New York Mellon, and Palo Alto, California-based venture capital firm Accel.
GIC’s investment comes amid a cryptocurrency sell-off that saw bitcoin fall below US$27,000 on Thursday, a level not seen since late December 2020. The second-largest token, ether, is trading 60 per cent below its peak last November.
The fall in cryptocurrency prices has come in tandem with dropping values for other risky assets, such as stocks and high-yield bonds, amid heightened fears of a global recession that could be exacerbated by more rate increases from the US Federal Reserve this year.