Government Investment Corporation, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, reportedly backed Coinbase in its massive $300 million funding round last year, according to a February 28 Bloomberg report.
Last October, the San Francisco-headquartered crypto exchange secured $300 million in its Series E funding round which reportedly put the valuation of the company at $8 billion.
Asia Trading Summit – The Leading Investment Event in China
The round was led by investment firm Tiger Global Management and, as per Coinbase, many well-known investors in the Silicon Valley including Y Combinator Continuity, Wellington Management, Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain participated in the round.
However, the Government Investment Corporation (GIC) was nowhere on the list.
Both GIC and Coinbase did not issue any statement officially, as of press time, after Bloomberg’s report.
Invest in Crypto Firms, Not in Cryptocurrencies
Established in 1981, GIC manages asset worth over $100 billion spread across 40 countries on the globe, according to its website.
Singapore-based fund’s involvement in Coinbase also shows the inclination of sophisticated investors towards the blockchain industry, creating a shift in the market.
Earlier Finance Magnates reported that the University of Michigan is considering to raise its already invested $3 million in stakes in the Andreessen Horowitz-managed crypto fund a16z. The investment was a part of the university’s $12 billion endowment fund.
Bear Market Can’t Stop the Trades
The cryptocurrency market achieved its peak in January 2018. However, since then the market started to correct itself and shed a huge chunk of its value over the span of a year.
This, however, could not stop the growing trades in the market. Huobi, earlier this month, reported that the exchange doubled its trading volume in 2018 compared to the figures of the previous year.
Bloomberg also cited that unreleased documents seen by the news agency last year showed that the leading crypto exchange in the US was forecasting almost $1.3 billion in revenue in 2018 – a sum that largely comes from the commissions on trades on its platform.