Today PolySign announced it raised a $53 million Series C funding round, the same amount as its Series B in May last year. Investors in the round include Cowen Digital, Brevan Howard, GSR and others. Additionally, the company secured a $25 million credit facility.
Initially, PolySign mainly focused on digital asset custody through its Standard Custody and Trust division. The technology was developed by two Ripple technologists, Arthur Britto and David Schwartz, who co-created Ripple’s XRP Ledger. Britto founded Standard.
In April, the company acquired digital asset fund administrator MG Stover which at the time had $40 billion in digital assets under administration. The combination of fund administration and custody gives PolySign a unique market positioning in a relatively competitive digital asset custody space. When Blockchain.com Asset Management launched its fund service, it chose Standard Custody.
Cowen unveiled its digital assets business last year, partnering with PolySign for custody.
“A better platform for custody and fund administration is necessary to serve their unique (institutional) needs and help expand the market,” said Jack McDonald, CEO of PolySign. “Market volatility has often obscured the biggest hurdle to institutional involvement – security. With this latest funding round and support from major institutions, as well as our recent acquisition of MG Stover, PolySign’s solutions are making the world of digital assets more attractive to institutional investors and accelerating the transition from traditional finance to decentralized finance.”
Some of PolySign’s many competitors in the digital asset custody sector include Fireblocks, which has raised more than $1 billion and Anchorage Digital, with cumulative funding of $487 million. Other players include State Street partner Copper, Citi custody provider Metaco and Asian startup Hex Trust.
