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Blockchain.com acquires SeSocio to cement presence in Latin America

100 SeSocio’s employees will join Blockchain.com, immediately bringing its global headcount to 400 people.

Major cryptocurrency wallet and data service Blockchain.com is expanding in Latin America by acquiring SeSocio, a major crypto company based in Argentina.

One of the biggest investment platforms in Latin America, SeSocio will now merge with Blockchain.com to help them scale operations across the region, the firm officially announced Nov. 30.

As part of the acquisition, 100 SeSocio employees will join Blockchain.com, immediately bringing its global headcount to 400 people.

Together, the firms will focus on providing crypto-enabled financial services to the unbanked and underbanked not only in Argentina but also other countries where Blockchain.com operates, including Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico. The United Kingdom-based company is also now planning to launch a physical presence in the countries by opening offices and hiring local talent.

The companies did not disclose the amount of the acquisition. According to the announcement, SeSocio is Blockchain.com’s “largest acquisition to date.” Blockchain.com did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

Founded by Guido Quaranta and Gastón Krasny in 2017, SeSocio is a personal finance application that allows users to buy, hold and manage their investments, including crypto investment. According to the company’s website, SeSocio supports over 45 cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (ETH) and Ether (ETH). The firm raised over $11 million in several funding rounds, according to online sources.

According to Blockchain.com CEO Peter Smith, Latin America has “one of the largest growth opportunities over the coming decade.” “Millions have already seen inflation at its worst, new currencies emerge out of thin air, and experienced political instability — creating a favorable environment for crypto,” he noted.

Related: Latin America stands to benefit most from crypto, says Uphold exec

The acquisition comes in line with Blockchain.com’s global expansion ambitions after the firm acquired companies like artificial intelligence firm AiX earlier this year. Originally launched as a blockchain data source back in 2011, Blockchain.com is one of the largest companies in the crypto industry, valued at $5.2 billion. The firm secured major funding in several rounds this year, including a $300 million raise in March and a $120 million round in February.

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Blockchain.com exchange debuts Bitcoin margin trading

Gold-verified users of Blockchain.com exchange in over 150 countries will now be able to trade Bitcoin with up to 5x leverage.

Bitcoin (BTC) wallet and exchange platform Blockchain.com has announced the introduction of margin trading services.

In a blog post issued on Tuesday, Blockchain.com stated that Bitcoin margin trading had been a regular request from users since launching its exchange service in 2019.

According to the announcement, the platform will launch margin trading for the Bitcoin-United States dollar (BTC/USD) pair with up to 5x leverage.

The exchange’s Bitcoin margin trading service will be available to users in about 150 countries, with significant exceptions for Italy, France, Canada and the United States. Other exempted jurisdictions include Japan, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Only gold-verified users with full identity verification will have access to the margin trading feature according to Tuesday’s announcement.

In terms of cost, the announcement stated 0.12% in daily trading fees on open margin trading positions, which is equivalent to 0.02% per four hours.

The launch of margin trading is the latest milestone for Blockchain.com since expanding its product catalog to include cryptocurrency exchange services.

Back in August, the platform crossed $1 trillion in crypto transactions and announced that it was mulling an initial public offering (IPO) by 2023.

Related: Blockchain.com says goodbye to the Big Apple, hello to Miami

Blockchain.com’s IPO plans are part of the emerging trend of exchanges and other crypto firms pursuing public listings, following in the footsteps of Coinbase. Indeed, the likes of Kraken and Circle are also considering public stock exchange listings.

The wallet and exchange platform also conducted multiple fundraising rounds earlier in the year and clocked a $5.2-billion valuation as of March. Blockchain.com reportedly utilized the capital to develop its institutional business.

As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Blockchain.com partnered with Unstoppable Domains to introduce username-based transactions to 32 million verified customers back in June.

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Blockchain.com CFO Says Company Could IPO in ’18-Months,’ Firm’s Balance Sheet Holds BTC, ETH

Blockchain.com CFO Says Company Could IPO in ’18-Months,’ Firm’s Balance Sheet Holds BTC, ETHThis week Blockchain.com CFO Macrina Kgil discussed how the company has surpassed $1 trillion in cryptocurrency transactions and the company may go public with an initial public offering (IPO) in 2023. The cryptocurrency firm is one of the oldest in the industry and Kgil explained that 76 million Blockchain.com wallets have been created since the […]

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After passing $1T in crypto transactions, Blockchain.com CFO hints at going public in 2023

Crypto exchange Kraken and stablecoin-focused company Circle have also said they are considering public listings.

Macrina Kgil, chief financial officer of crypto wallet provider and exchange Blockchain.com, said an initial public offering for the platform could happen as early as 2023.

In a Forbes interview released on Monday, Kgil said Blockchain.com could consider an initial public offering in 18 months or more. The company had a $5.2 billion valuation following a $300 million funding round in March and a $120 million round in February.

At the time of the former, CEO Peter Smith said the company was “carefully considering its public-market options.” Major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase did not officially go public on the Nasdaq until April, when the firm reportedly had a $100 billion valuation and Coinbase Pro was handling more than $3 billion in daily transactions.

Kgil said in a Monday blog post that Blockchain.com had surpassed $1 trillion in crypto transactions, most likely driven by retail investors, institutional adoption, through the platform’s brokerage and exchange business. She added that the company’s balance sheet consists of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), altcoins, and cash.

Related: Blockchain.com introduces username-based crypto transactions

Blockchain.com may not be the first to follow in Coinbase’s footsteps for going public. Kraken CEO Jesse Powell said in June the exchange was considering a public listing for next year, stablecoin-focused crypto company Circle said last month that it planned to go public in a $4.5 billion deal, and Bullish, an exchange backed by Block.one has also thrown its hat into the ring with a possible listing on the New York Stock Exchange. 

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Blockchain.com introduces username-based crypto transactions

The new integration enables Blockchain.com users to send funds to major wallets by typing a readable domain.

Major crypto wallet provider Blockchain.com is integrating with Unstoppable Domains to simplify sending crypto funds for its customers.

Unstoppable Domains announced Thursday that it had integrated native support for Blockchain.com, enabling that latter's 32 million verified users to send funds with a username instead of a full-length crypto wallet address.

The initiative aims to remove the risk of human error when sending funds, simplifying transactions between Blockchain.com users and more than 50 other wallets and exchanges supported by Unstoppable Domains, including Coinbase wallet, MyEtherWallet and others.

The integration allows users to send cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) using a readable recipient’s domain instead of a 25-to-42-digit alphanumeric wallet address. This way, users will be protected from associated typos or miscopies.

“With our integration with Blockchain.com, an 'invalid address' message will pop up if the address is not linked to a wallet,” Unstoppable Domains founder and CEO Matthew Gould told Cointelegraph.

Gould said that there is no specific character length for a domain wallet address. “We only recommend you pick a domain that’s easy to read and remember. It could be your first and last name, your nickname, the name of your business,” he noted.

Related: Unstoppable Domains’ .crypto websites now available via Brave browser

The news comes amid Unstoppable Domains hitting a major milestone, with the company selling more than one million domain names that are minted as nonfungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain. Alongside sending and receiving funds, these NFT domains with a .crypto extension are used to create decentralized websites to publish content and access Web3.

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Blockchain.com says ‘Goodbye Big Apple, Hello Miami!’

Miami Mayor says he wants “a Miami that lasts forever” as he announces Blockchain.com’s move to Miami.

Major crypto solutions provider Blockchain.com is moving its U.S. headquarters from New York to  Miami in an attempt to spur aggressive growth over the next few years.

The $5 billion firm intends to hire 300 new full-time employees in the region over the next 18 months. The news broke a day before the city played host to the world’s largest Bitcoin conference, Bitcoin 2021.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez made the announcement at City Hall with Blockchain.com CEO Peter Smith. He explained that not only will the move boost local employment but it will also be an investment in the local science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) community via educational programming. Suaraz said:

"Blockchain.com's arrival in Miami perfectly encapsulates what the Miami Movement is all about — leveraging Miami's talent against the world's top companies in order to build towards our goal of becoming a Miami that lasts forever and a Miami that works for everyone."

Blockchain.com cited a key driver of the move was “the city’s welcoming regulatory environment serving as a hotbed of crypto innovation.” The firm's global headquarters will still be based in Londonn, however, Miami will stand as its U.S. HQ.  Blockchain.com also has offices in San Francisco which will remain.

Blockchain.com, with a $5 billion post-money valuation, is arguably the biggest blockchain-related scalp claimed by Miami since Mayor Suarez began his intense crypto push. The company services 32 million users across 200 countries.

Over the last year, Suarez has made it clear that he wants to landmark Miami as the country’s crypto center. Crypto finance firm XBTO Group purchased a new Miami office in April, Scott Minerd from global investment firm Guggenheim Partners and Peter Thiel associate Keith Rabois have also bought property here. FTX crypto exchange secured a 19-year deal for naming rights to the Miami Heat arena, and Borderless Capital announced a $25 million fund for Miami-based crypto businesses on June 2.

Suarez has also held meetings with the Winklevoss twins, Elon Musk, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and Google CEO Eric Schmidt in an effort to convince them of Miami’s benefits.

Suarez has demonstrated a personal conviction as well, publicly revealing that he owns Bitcoin and Ethereum, and is planning on “buying the dip”.

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Early Tesla investor Baillie Gifford invests $100M in Blockchain.com

Big tech investor Baillie Gifford has backed the largest single investment in major crypto wallet service Blockchain.com.

Baillie Gifford, a 110 year-old asset management firm known for its early bets on firms like Tesla, has invested $100 million in major cryptocurrency wallet service Blockchain.com.

Blockchain.com co-founder and CEO Peter Smith announced Wednesday that Baillie Gifford’s contribution to its $300 million funding round in March has become the largest single investment in the company so far. Smith stated that Baillie Gifford’s participation in the round marked “one of their first investments in a crypto company.”

“It’s also a validation that a balanced and diversified retail/institutional business has incredible growth potential in the coming years,” the CEO wrote.

With over $445 billion in assets under management, Baillie Gifford has emerged as a major tech investor, gaining nearly $28 billion by betting early on Tesla and Alibaba, and pharmaceutical company Moderna. One of the largest outside Tesla investors, Baillie Gifford reaped a $16 billion profit from its Tesla investment alone as of August 2020. The company is also known for backing companies like Google, Amazon and Airbnb.

Baillie Gifford’s bet on Blockchain.com comes amid increasing investor attention to the company and the wider crypto industry as well. United Kingdom-based Blockchain.com is one of the biggest fundraisers this year, securing $420 million in two funding rounds in February and March and bringing the firm to a $5.2-billion valuation.

According to data from business analytics firm CB Insights, crypto and blockchain firms including Blockchain.com, BlockFi and Dapper Labs received more funding in the first quarter of 2021 than over the entire course of 2020.

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