- May 25, 2022
- Posted by: Bastion team
- Category: World News
Despite recent swings in cryptocurrency values, many institutional investors appear undeterred. The growth of Babel Finance, which offers a suite of institution-facing crypto financial products, could be an indicator of how banks, investment funds, and other traditional investors are embracing the emerging digital asset class.
Founded in 2018, Hong Kong-based Babel is newly valued at $2 billion in its $80 million Series B funding round, the company told TechCrunch. The fresh capital infusion is mainly backed by Jeneration Capital, 10T Holdings, and its existing shareholders Dragonfly Capital and BAI Capital. Other investors include Circle Ventures and several family offices in the Asia-Pacific region. The firm has raised a total of $120 million in equity financing to date.
Babel has evolved from a crypto lending business targeting miners and others into a comprehensive crypto asset manager for institutional investors. It’s now serving a group of 500-plus organizations and high net-worth individuals with services including crypto lending and borrowing as well as portfolio management.
Demand from this group “is strong as they seek more sophisticated financial instruments to manage their investments in cryptocurrencies,” said Del Wang, co-founder and CEO of Babel.
The crypto market is notoriously volatile, so it puts extra pressure on asset managers like Babel to maintain a healthy balance sheet. Babel’s source of funds comes from its own…