Crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group valued at $10 billion
- Dan Primack, author of Axios Pro Rata
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Digital Currency Group, a crypto conglomerate whose holdings include media site CoinDesk and asset manager Grayscale, raised $700 million in secondary funding at a $10 billion valuation led by SoftBank.
Why it matters: DCG is unlike anything else in crypto; an operating and investment firm with exposure to almost every part of the industry. It also differs from its unicorn peers in that it plans to remain private indefinitely.
Other investors include CapitalG, Ribbit Capital, GIC, Tribe Capital and Emory University.
Emory? It's the alma matter of DCG founder and CEO Barry Silbert, who owns nearly 40% of the firm and has never sold any shares (including via today's secondary deal).
The bottom line: "Crypto companies ... raised $7.5 billion in the third quarter, according to data from research firm PitchBook, including FTX's $900 million round, the largest on record. That was more than the previous record of $7 billion set in the first quarter and more than the $5.3 billion raised in all of 2020." — Paul Vigna, WSJ