Hong Kong real estate giant leads $90M raise for crypto bank Sygnum

Sun Hung Kai reportedly became the biggest seller of new homes in Hong Kong in January 2022.

Sun Hung Kai, one of the largest property developers in Hong Kong, continues betting on the cryptocurrency industry by investing in Swiss crypto outfit Sygnum.

Sygnum officially announced Thursday that it closed a $90 million Series B round led by Sun Hung Kai, a real estate giant and alternative investment firm in Hong Kong.

According to Sun Hung Kai’s group executive chairman Lee Seng Huang, the company has a strategic vision to expand its fund management offerings into digital assets.

“Amidst growing institutional demand and regulatory oversight of this sector, Sygnum, with its track record as a fully-regulated digital asset bank and asset manager, is the ideal partner for us to co-develop digital asset focused products together and to cater to the strong demand for digital asset solutions and services in Asia, Europe and beyond,” he said.

The funding round brings Sygnum’s post-money valuation to $800 million, marking a tenfold surge in consolidated revenues from 2021.

The raised capital aims to help the Swiss company expand around the world, create new products in collaboration with strategic investors as well as accelerate the development of new institutional-grade Web 3.0 offerings like decentralized finance pools and staking services, as well as additional partnerships with blockchain ecosystems like the Dfinity Foundation.

Related: PwC Hong Kong purchases land plot in The Sandbox

Other big investors in the round included nonfungible token (NFT) companies like Animoca Brands and Wemade, Canadian investment firm Meta Investments, as well as existing strategic investors such as SBI Holdings and Siam Commercial Bank’s digital investment arm, SCB 10X.

Sun Hung Kai has been increasingly moving into the crypto and blockchain industry recently, expressing particular interest in the metaverse and NFTs. On Wednesday, Sun Hung Kai became a major partner of the Sandbox, a major decentralized gaming virtual world and subsidiary of Animoca Brands.