SoftBank Values Cryptocurrency Startup Blockdaemon at $1.2 Billion

Cryptocurrency startup Blockdaemon is raising new capital that will value the company at $1.2 billion including the investment, said a person familiar with the matter. SoftBank Vision Fund 2, the $30 billion venture fund of SoftBank Group, is leading the investment.

Los Angeles–based Blockdaemon manages hardware and software to help businesses conduct transactions on the blockchain, a secure digital ledger for recording payments. The round comes just two months after the four-year-old company announced its $36 million Series A financing led by venture firm Greenspring Associates.

The funding reflects rising investor interest in companies that can provide the computing power required when crypto exchanges and financial institutions record and validate huge volumes of transactions on a blockchain. Alchemy, another startup that helps companies power blockchain-based apps, is also raising a new round of funding that could value the company above $1 billion, said another person familiar with the matter, just five months after raising a Series B round from Coatue Management and Addition that valued it at $505 million.