Curv Raises $23M to Continue Serving Institutional Demand for Bitcoin

Curv, a crypto-security provider for institutional investors, has announced a $23 million Series A funding raise, with investments from CommerzVentures, Coinbase Ventures, Digital Currency Group, Team8, and Digital Garage Lab Fund.

Curv Set to Drive Institutional and Crypto-Native Demand

Curv will use these funds used to continue its international growth, product innovations, and hiring top talent.

The firm is driving traditional institutional and crypto-native demand for digital assets through its multi-party computation (MPC) security technology, a critical requirement to safely transfer, store, and manage any digital asset on any blockchain or DLT. 

Curv is used by dozens of customers across the globe, including global investment firm Franklin Templeton, which leverages Curv’s infrastructure, as well as crypto-native institutions such as eToro and Genesis.

Institutional Interest in Crypto Remains Robust

According to a recent survey by Fidelity Digital Assets, nearly 80 percent of institutional investors in the U.S. and Europe see the appeal of digital assets, including more than a third who have already invested in the market. 

More investors also have exposure to derivatives, according to the poll.

The percentage of U.S. investors with exposure to cryptocurrency futures increased from nine percent in 2019 to 22 percent in 2020. Curv CEO Itay Malinger said on the findings that:

“Despite a challenging economic climate, we’re seeing strong growth among traditional financial institutions, who require our enterprise-grade security infrastructure, robust governance engine and seamless integration with blockchain technology. Unlike other legacy solutions, we simultaneously deliver the protection, instant liquidity, and complete control required for all institutions to thrive in the digital asset economy.”

Curv’s keyless MPC technology and flexible tech stack allow crypto-native and traditional financial institutions to build world-class crypto finance products.

They support hot, warm, and cold wallet configurations as well as all tokens and protocols regardless of the underlying blockchain or DLT.

Adapting to Regulations

As regulators around the world begin to provide further guidance around digital assets, both Wall Street and global financial institutions are preparing themselves.

Curv’s MPC technology plays a vital role in this by providing institutions with greater flexibility in adapting to and complying with these changing regulatory requirements surrounding governance, auditing, and capital requirements. 

This flexibility is achieved via the deployment of Curv’s diverse signing mechanisms and offline storage schemas for key management. Air Gap is one such solution that allows institutions to supplement their online transactional wallet with an offline, air-gapped machine for signing transactions.

The Curv Air Gap’s keyless cryptography also solves key security risks of cold wallets — like insider threats, human error, and physical damage, freeing institutions from having to make suboptimal tradeoffs between security and asset availability.