Today Blockchain Capital announced the closing of its $300 million fifth venture fund, which included investment from PayPal, Visa, pension funds and university endowments. To date, the venture firm has invested in more than 110 startups, including Coinbase, custodian bank Anchorage, NFT site Opensea and DeFi protocols Aave and Nexus Mutual.
PayPal and Visa are participating in Blockchain Capital’s strategic partnership program, which will benefit its startups.
“PayPal is committed to fostering an ecosystem of companies making digital currencies more accessible, useful and secure,” said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, VP, general manager blockchain, crypto and digital currencies, PayPal. “Investing in Blockchain Capital’s new fund allows us to engage with the entrepreneurs driving the future of the decentralized economy and the new wave of financial services.”
Since October 2020, the payments firm allowed users to invest in cryptocurrencies and has been delighted with the increased engagement with the PayPal wallet. At the end of March, it enabled merchants to accept cryptocurrencies as payment. That month it acquired crypto custody firm Curv. And last week, it was announced that PayPal Ventures invested in TRM Labs, a company that provides blockchain forensics for fraud and transaction monitoring.
Meanwhile, Visa is already an investor in portfolio company Anchorage and has a partnership with the company for custody.
“We’re focused on enhancing all forms of money movement, whether on the Visa network, or beyond,” said Vasant Prabhu, CRO, Visa Inc. “Through our relationship with Blockchain Capital, we are deepening our efforts to shape and support the role that digital currencies play in the future.”
