Unchained Capital, Inc. announced the closing of a $5.5 million equity seed round led by institutional Bitcoin technology and financial services firm NYDIG. In addition to leading the equity round, NYDIG has made an initial lending commitment of $50 million, and will continue to be the principal funding partner to Unchained in support of its leading bitcoin-backed multisignature lending platform.
Also participating in the equity round are existing investors Ecliptic Capital, Starting Line, Platform Ventures, Stronghold Resource Partners, Trammell Venture Partners’ Bitcoin Venture Fund, and Capital Factory.
“The teams at NYDIG and Unchained Capital share a mission built on the foundation of a bitcoin standard. We believe there are significant opportunities to create synergies across our respective custodial and non-custodial platforms,” said Joseph Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Unchained Capital.
Read More: Net Purpose Joins Investment Association’s FinTech Accelerator
Unchained Capital and NYDIG offer complementary platforms to the large and growing market of long-term bitcoin holders. Both firms are focused on building critical infrastructure for bitcoin and delivering financial services, while offering different custody architectures to different target markets.
“Over the past two years, Unchained Capital has developed one of the most trusted brands in bitcoin custody and financial services; our partnership with NYDIG will help institutionalize our platform and further expand our reach,” said Parker Lewis, Head of Business Development. Through investments in its proprietary services platform and open-source applications, the company has advanced the development of multisig as a technology for direct use by individuals and businesses.
Unchained differentiates itself by providing a custody solution that allows clients to maintain unilateral control of their bitcoin while integrating financial services that leverage the same collaborative custody architecture to minimize trust and increase security.
Robert Gutmann, co-founder and CEO of NYDIG, said, “We are thrilled to be working closely with the fantastic team at Unchained and to be helping them further their mission of securing their clients’ futures. NYDIG is committed to investing in providers and technologies dedicated to Bitcoin, and Unchained is a prime example. The NYDIG team and I look forward to working with Unchained to accelerate its growth and expand its ability to deliver premium services, like lending, to bitcoin holders.”
Ross Stevens, founder and Executive Chairman of NYDIG, said, “Combining forces, NYDIG and Unchained together can now act with a unified urgency to accelerate fairer and freer access to the Bitcoin monetary system, in support of NYDIG’s mission of delivering financial security for all. As fiat’s accelerating evaporation of value in Bitcoin terms – 90% USD deprecation since just the beginning of 2019 – continues to wreck U.S. savers’ title to their own human time, Unchained, with NYDIG’s increasing support, is doing important and critically necessary work. On a personal level, Parker was, and is, quite influential to me at various inflection points of my own Bitcoin journey, so I could not be more pleased with this union and look forward to digging in with Joe, Dhruv, Will, Phil, and the whole Unchained team.”
The partnership and new funding come on the heels of Unchained reaching over $1 billion of bitcoin secured and over $80 million of loans originated. Proceeds will be used to grow the 25 person team, further the partnership with NYDIG, and expand the company’s lending and trade execution capabilities in addition to growing its suite of services to include bitcoin lending and bitcoin payments infrastructure.
Read More: GreenPath and eGain Launch Unique Anytime-Anywhere Virtual Financial Coach
