Blockchain infrastructure development firm Paxos announced today that it has closed some $300 million through a Series D funding round.The funding round was led by Oak HC/FT, with participation from investors in the previous Series C funding round in December such as PayPal Ventures, Declaration Partners, and Liberty City Ventures providing once again for this round. Notably, Paxos is the crypto partner of PayPal and its recently acquired mobile payments platform, Venmo.The funding round also saw new investments from Mithril Capital, Senator Investment Group, WestCap, and other undisclosed investors. The current round now places Paxos’ valuation at $2.4 billion, with a total capital raise amounting to over $500 million. “Demand for our enterprise solutions has accelerated much faster than we could have anticipated. It validates our approach to providing the most innovative and regulated enterprise solutions to replatform the financial system and create the digital economy of the future,” shared Paxos Co-founder and CEO Charles Cascarilla.According to Paxos, the newly raised capital will be poured into investments on the development of enterprise-grade infrastructure while “deepening its commitment to regulation, reliability and security.”Paxos is the crypto and blockchain industry’s first regulated blockchain infrastructure platform, having secured a Trust charter for digital assets in 2015. It recently received conditional approval for the de novo Trust Bank charter for digital assets from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The approval follows Paxos’ bid to become the first crypto-native digital assets custodian to be regulated through both the state and federal level, at least in the U.S.Alongside infrastructural development, the fintech firm also plans to accelerate its growth by scaling operations and increasing its platform capacity. The firm also projects additional liquidity across its platform to improve customer experience and token utility. According to its official press release, Paxos has plans to establish the Paxos National Trust Bank and support its application for a Clearing Agency registration with the U.S. SEC. Meanwhile, the firm also notes that it is actively pursuing a Major Payment Institution license in Singapore.Paxos’ work with PayPal has enabled it to gain visibility throughout the industry, and it is now planning to onboard between three to five new partnerships with companies of a similar foothold as PayPal. The firm also provides products and services such as USD-pegged Paxos Standard stablecoin (PAX), a cryptocurrency exchange (itBit), and an equities settlement service used by major financial service institutions such as Credit Suisse, Societe Generale, and Instinet.
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