Scottish asset manager Baillie Gifford invested $100 million in the Bitcoin exchange Blockchain.com. The Edinburgh-based firm has become the largest external shareholder of the British cryptocurrency company, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Baillie Gifford invested in Blockchain.com as part of a $300 million Series C funding round, after which its valuation reached $5.2 billion.
The round was led by partners at the investment firm DST Global, as well as Lightspeed Venture Partners and VY Capital. Baillie Gifford’s participation in it had not been disclosed at the time.
The Edinburgh-based company was among the early backers of Silicon Valley giants, including Google, Tesla and Airbnb. Investments in the UK’s largest cryptocurrency company marked Baillie Gifford’s first step into the digital assets industry. According to the site, the firm manages assets worth more than $445 billion.
On April 14, the listing of Coinbase’s shares on Nasdaq took place, during which its market capitalization rose above $100 billion.
Blockchain.com’s CEO Peter Smith said the company also plans to go public at some point. According to him, the firm sees strong demand from private investors for up to $900 million, which is three times the capital raised previously.
“We want to do this at the right time, and we are deciding when it will happen,” he said.
Smith declined to comment to the publication on whether the listing will take place in London or New York.
Earlier, Blockchain.com raised $120 million in funding from macro-investors, including Moore Strategic Ventures, Google Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
In March, former Obama White House aide Jim Messina joined the company’s board.