- The funds raised will be converted to ETH, used to support the adoption of Infura, a revamp of MetaMask and ConsenSys' expansion efforts
- ConsenSys also revealed that MetaMask now has 30 million active monthly users
Blockchain and Ethereum–focused firm ConsenSys today announced the conclusion of a $450 million raise. The recently–concluded funding round, led by ParaFi Capita, has seen the valuation of ConsenSys grow more than twofold to $7 billion, a significant swell from the last financing in November 2021.
The raise saw the involvement of previous investors such as Third Point, TRUE Capital Management, and Marshall Wace, with newer investors including Temasek, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Anthos Capital, Microsoft and Sound Ventures also in play. Notably, celebrities including rappers 21 Savage and Young Thug were also involved.
The leading Ethereum software firm said that the capital will be converted to ETH to meet the requirements of its treasury strategy. This would also fall in line with the firm's anticipation of Ethereum's upcoming PoS merge.
Investment into native products
ConsenSys disclosed that it intends to invest capital into initiatives to improve its current products.
The completion of the Series D raise comes on the back of Ethereum's Metamask wallet exceeding 30 million monthly active users, a growth of 42% in just four months.
Following the recent acquisition of Ethereum wallet manager MyCrypto, MetaMask is slated for a major redesign sometime later this year, and the new resources would be invested towards this effect.
Concurrently, ConsenSys' infrastructure tool Infura now has 430,000 developers, and the parent firm confirmed it will pump more resources into expanding the scale of adoption of the tool. Consensys revealed that thus far, Infura's Ethereum API has processed more than $1 trillion in ETH.
The blockchain infrastructure also noted that it would invest the funding in the development and expansion of the larger Ethereum ecosystem, driving adoption of NFTs by creatives, and hiring more than 600 employees around the world.
ConsenSys intends to show even more commitment to the Ethereum ecosystem in the future. According to founder and CEO of ConsenSys Joseph Lubin, the next Series would be purely Ethereum-focused.
"This round takes in digital assets as well as fiat and converts immediately to ETH. Next round will be our 'Series ETH' where we will assist investors in getting fully crypto native to contribute ETH as a symbol of and commitment to the ongoing paradigm shift," Lubin said as per the official press release.