Blockchain Infrastructure Provider AlphaPoint Raises US$15M Series A

AlphaPoint, a blockchain technology and infrastructure provider, has raised US$15 million in a Series A funding round from Galaxy Digital Ventures, the digital asset firm started by billionaire investor Mike Novogratz. The funding will be used to accelerate global growth, the company said on Thursday.

“We are in the early stages of a fundamental transformation in financial markets due to the digitization of assets,” said Mike Novogratz, CEO and founder of Galaxy Digital Ventures. “This transformation started with currencies but is now changing the way we look at commodities, real estate, art, and other traditional and emerging asset classes. We are excited to partner with AlphaPoint as we continue to help drive this revolutionary change in digital markets.”

Novogratz, a former Wall Street macro trader, is working on turning Galaxy Digital Ventures into a so-called “institutional-quality merchant banking business in cryptocurrency and blockchain.” Galaxy Digital Ventures plans to be active in trading, principal investing, asset management and advisory work. In January 2018, Novogratz unveiled a plan to raise US$190 million, and earlier this month, he told Bloomberg that he was building the “Drexel of crypto.”

Greg Wasserman, managing director of Galaxy Digital Ventures, will join AlphaPoint’s board of directors. Commenting on the new fundraising, Wasserman said:

“The market opportunity for digitizing illiquid assets is tremendous. Consumers are demanding increased access, transparency and trust. Businesses are seeking increased liquidity with reduced fraud, risk and cost. Executing on this market opportunity requires proven best-in-class technology alongside seasoned management teams with substantial experience providing new technology to a variety of financial institutions. AlphaPoint brings this rare combination together and I look forward to working with them.”

Founded in 2013, AlphaPoint provides financial institutions around the world with a blockchain infrastructure for asset digitization and trading. AlphaPoint’s proprietary distributed ledger technology enables the creation and support of cryptocurrency exchanges and the tokenization of assets like commodities, luxury goods, and private shares. The company claims its technology can process a capacity of nearly one million transactions per second.

AlphaPoint’s white label exchange and asset digitalization technology is used by major institutions such as CME Group, the UK’s Royal Mint, London Block Exchange (LBX), Bitt, and Muirfield Investment Partners.