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Terra’s Founder Do Kwon ‘Looks Forward to Building With Bitcoin’ — Project Reportedly Acquires $125M in BTC

Terra’s Founder Do Kwon ‘Looks Forward to Building With Bitcoin’ — Project Reportedly Acquires 5M in BTCJust recently, Terra founder Do Kwon hinted at purchasing $3 billion in bitcoin to bolster the protocol’s reserves and according to a number of reports and blockchain analysis, Terra purchased $125 million worth of bitcoin on March 21. The following day, bitcoin’s fiat value jumped to a high of $43,079 per unit and there’s been […]

BlackRock leads $47M funding round for RWA tokenization firm Securitize

Canadian Bitcoin miner Blockstream joins crypto unicorns with $3.2B valuation

Blockstream has secured $210 million in fresh investment from a U.K. private equity firm and crypto exchange Bitfinex's operator.

Canada-based Bitcoin (BTC) infrastructure firm Blockstream, co-founded by cryptographer and cypherpunk Adam Back, has hit unicorn status with its latest valuation at $3.2 billion.

The company, which focuses on various Bitcoin-related areas — including operating as a mining service provider and developing renewables-based infrastructure intended to “green” the veteran cryptocurrency — has raised $210 million in its latest financing round, according to the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail.

Blockstream’s new backers, which join existing investors like Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, are the United Kingdom-based private equity firm Baillie Gifford and Hong Kong-based iFinex, the operator of crypto exchange Bitfinex

In a statement about the grounds for Blockstream’s $3.2 billion valuation and the fresh capital investment, Baillie Gifford wrote that it has “enormous respect for Blockstream’s founders and management team” and believes that “its settlement network for Bitcoin-based assets and securities has the potential to transform the design and operation of capital markets.”

Blockstream Chief Strategy Officer Samson Mow has reportedly said that the investment will support the company’s further growth and help it to expand its mining operations. The company has recently acquired ASIC maker Spondoolies and, according to Mow, plans to develop its own ASIC miner to use for its own operations and to sell on the retail market “sometime in 2022.”

Related: Unicorns in crypto: A growing herd of billion-dollar crypto companies

Mow also disclosed that Blockstream aims to raise more capital in the coming months to expand its various initiatives. These have to date included the Blockstream Satellite network, which broadcasts the Bitcoin blockchain worldwide 24/7 and the launch of a service called Blockstream Energy, which allows energy producers to sell surplus electricity to proof-of-work miners.

In March of this year, Blockstream announced the launch of a security token backed by the company's mining operations, intended to serve as a more flexible alternative to investing in Bitcoin mining stocks or physical mining infrastructure.

BlackRock leads $47M funding round for RWA tokenization firm Securitize

Adam Back unveils Blockstream’s new Bitcoin mining security token

Blockstream has announced the launch of a new security token backed by the company's mining facilities.

Canadian-based Blockchain tech company Blockstream announced the launch of a security token backed by the company's mining production on March 29.

It offers an alternative to investing in Bitcoin mining stocks, with the company providing non-US qualified investors exposure to Bitcoin mining through the Blockstream Mining Note security token. BMN represents 2,000 terahash per second of hashrate from Blockstream's  mining facilities.

The Bitcoin mined for BMN will be held in cold storage for three years, and will be distributed to the final token holders at the end of that time frame.

Blockstream plans to begin BMN mining operations by July 9, with the following tranches expected to be released in the third quarter of this year.

The BMN security token offering, or STO, will be held on STOKR, a European investment marketplace for alternative digital assets. The first tranche of security tokens will be on offer from April 7, and are priced at roughly $240,000 each, which is also the minimum investment.

In the announcement published on Blockstream’s website, CEO Adam Back and CIO Chris Cook emphasized the benefits of gaining exposure to the security token in comparison to investing in mining infrastructure:

“By packaging mining in a tradable token, the BMN allows investors more flexibility than a traditional investment in physical mining infrastructure—investors can more easily adjust their exposure to Bitcoin mining by trading the BMN on secondary markets.”

“By expanding investor participation in Bitcoin’s proof-of-work, the BMN also strengthens Bitcoin’s security and censorship resistance. It’s a win-win for investors and the broader network,” the post said.

Exposure to Bitcoin mining has been a lucrative option for many investors. Cointelegraph reported on March 22, that shares in the top four publicly traded mining firms were up 5000% in the last 12 months, compared to the 900% growth of Bitcoin in that same period.

BlackRock leads $47M funding round for RWA tokenization firm Securitize