Blockchain start-up ConsenSys has raised $450 million in a new round of funding, bringing its total valuation to $7 billion.
According to ConsenSys, the cash infusion was led by ParaFi Capital, with Microsoft, Japan’s SoftBank, and Singapore’s Temasek also joining as new investors.
ConsenSys, based in New York, was founded in 2014 by Joseph Lubin, a co-founder of Ethereum. Ethereum is the blockchain platform that powers ether, the world’s second most valuable cryptocurrency.
Whereas bitcoin is primarily used for transactions, Ethereum can be used to build decentralized applications think Facebook or TikTok, but on the blockchain, a shared record-keeping system for crypto transactions. ConsenSys creates software for the Ethereum network.
Microsoft has made a rare crypto-related bet. Previously, the company led an early-stage investment in Palm NFT Studio, a start-up co-founded by Lubin.
Microsoft’s involvement demonstrates the world’s largest tech firms’ growing interest in Web3, a loosely defined term that refers to efforts to create a decentralised version of the internet based on blockchain technology.
It’s a buzzword that’s attracting a lot of attention — and money — in Silicon Valley. According to CB Insights data, blockchain startups raised a record $25 billion in venture capital funding globally last year. Other tech behemoths looking into Web3 include Facebook parent company Meta and Twitter.
Investors see ConsenSys as one of the companies that will power Web3. It has benefited from an influx of capital into emerging crypto trends such as decentralised finance, or DeFi, and nonfungible tokens, or NFTs.
The MetaMask cryptocurrency wallet and Infura, a suite of tools that helps developers create Ether-powered apps, are two of the company’s most popular products. The funds will be used to hire 600 more employees, redesign MetaMask, which is set to be released later this year, and expand Consenys’ growing NFT business.
