Curv, a digital asset
wallet startup, has emerged from stealth and announced a US$6.5 million seed
funding round led by Team8 and Digital Currency Group, with participation from
Flybridge Capital, Jump Capital, Monex Group and Liberty City Ventures.
The company, which is headquartered in New York with
research and development offices in Tel Aviv, Israel, has developed a secure,
distributed architecture for signing transactions, allowing any institution or
enterprise to quickly and easily hold and exchange digital assets on public or
private blockchains without managing private keys on physical infrastructures.
“Curv is solving the eternal trade-off between security and
availability,” said Nadav Zafrir, co-founder and CEO of Team8, a cybersecurity
think-tank and company creation platform. “No longer do institutions or
enterprises need to maintain physical security that doesn’t scale or hot
wallets that are difficult to integrate and secure. Curv gives them a single
solution that does it all.”
Curv’s institutional digital asset wallet service, which the
company unveiled on Tuesday, is a software-only, cloud-based service that eliminates
the need for cold and hot wallets. The solution offers an enterprise-grade
policy engine which allows institutions to define risk profiles and enforce
granular controls for all employees, machines and wallets, assuring compliance
with organizational policies.
The digital asset wallet service has been developed with
convenience and rapid deployment in mind, allowing clients to adopt any
cryptocurrency or blockchain app without having to worry about investing or
scaling the underlying IT infrastructure. It promises financial institutions
and enterprises strong security, instant availability and complete autonomy
over their digital assets.
“Curv is building best-in-breed technology solutions for digital
asset custody,” said Travis Scher, vice president of investments at Digital
Currency Group. “The company’s institutional grade wallet, which uses the most
advanced cryptographic methods, provides the security and control that
institutional investors entering this emerging asset class will expect. We have
been extremely impressed with the Curv team and are excited to support this
dynamic company.”
Curv’s institutional digital asset wallet service is a
subscription service and will be available starting March 25, 2019. The service
will include the setup, management and maintenance of the blockchain infrastructure.
It is currently being used in a private beta with exchanges,
custodians, fintechs and institutional investors located around the globe.