Komainu Completes Series B Fundraising

Digital assets service provider and custodian Komainu announced the completion of its Series B fundraising, securing a $75 million strategic investment from Blockstream’s venture arm, pending regulatory approvals.

The investment was made directly in bitcoin with effective hedging and risk management, according to the Jersey-based firm backed by Nomura. Komainu plans to utilize this capital to enhance its international growth while implementing Blockstream’s technologies and setting up its own bitcoin treasury. In October, Komainu disclosed its acquisition of crypto custodian Propine to bolster its presence in Singapore.

Komainu co-CEO Paul Frost-Smith stated that the partnership with Blockstream reinforces its commitment to becoming the leading provider of digital asset services for Bitcoin and boosting institutional adoption. Blockstream co-founder and CEO Adam Back, along with director PeterPaul Pardi and advisor Nicolas Brand, will join Komainu’s board following the agreement.

Integration with the Liquid Network

To enhance client services in collateral management and tokenization, Komainu is integrating with Blockstream’s federated Bitcoin sidechain, the Liquid Network. This will reduce the time required for its off-exchange margining and settlement solution, Komainu Connect, from hours to minutes.

Moreover, Blockstream’s AMP technology, which serves as an API platform for issuing and managing digital assets on the Liquid Network, will assist Komainu in automating regulated asset tokenization and designing trustless trading solutions. The firm will also incorporate Blockstream’s enterprise HSM wallet, providing institutional clients with a wider array of bank-grade digital asset services.

Adam Back expressed enthusiasm about Komainu adopting Blockstream’s technologies to improve its institutional offerings, emphasizing this as a significant step into the institutional space for Bitcoin technologies. He believes this will be just the beginning as the institutional community becomes more aware of the potential of the Lightning and Liquid Networks.

In October, Blockstream itself raised $210 million through convertible note financing to expedite market adoption of its Layer 2 technologies, expand its mining operations, and increase its bitcoin treasury.