Amid recent murmurs of cryptocurrency’s projected outlook for 2015, bitcoin wallet Coinbase just received some credibility from some major financial institutions.
The San Francisco-based company pulled in $75 million in a round led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ). BBVA Ventures, USAA Bank, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and Crypto Currency Partners also contributed, along with existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, and Ribbit Capital.
From a fintech standpoint, the most notable investors are BBVA and USAA. Both have historically been known for being on the cutting edge of fintech. In an interview yesterday with CoinDesk, BBVA Ventures executive director Jay Reinemann stated:
“This is unfortunately not an announcement that we’re opening up the bank to do that, it’s moreso a precursor. We need to better understand the industry and understand how merchants and consumers are interacting with bitcoin.”
According to TechCrunch, this is the largest round yet a bitcoin-related company has raised. The new installment adds up to more than double its last three rounds combined, and brings its total funding to almost $107 million.
What’s a bitcoin-focused company to do with all of those dollars? The Coinbase team will use the money to work on its mobile channel, increase its international availability from the current 19 countries to 30 countries, and build out its API.