The CEO of Anchorage believes banks will begin offering crypto to customers at the end of 2022 as the company expands its business to include staking and lending.

KKR, Goldman Sachs, and other institutions have invested $350 million in Anchorage, the fast-growing crypto storage firm that gained a federal bank charter in January. The recent funding round has lifted its valuation to $3 billion.

With deep relationships with banks, the company has developed into a major crypto player from being a niche custody provider.

The other investors in the round, including Andreessen Horowitz, Apollo credit funds, and Wellington Management, received equity stakes in exchange for their investment in the firm.

In an interview with Reuters, Anchorage's president and co-founder, Diogo Mónica, explained, "We wanted to make sure that all these big investment names are in our corner because Anchorage is expanding really heavily toward larger financial institutions."

The company plans to use this latest funding technology to enhance its infrastructure solutions, especially for global financial firms and financial technology innovators. Anchorage raised $80 million in a previous round of funding.

In addition to providing prime services such as custody, lending, and trading, Anchorage also offers infrastructure, which companies can leverage to build products based on cryptocurrency technology.

The firm continues to benefit from the growing number of crypto assets that institutions are looking to park with the company.

A number of government agencies have joined its client base as well. Its custody customers in the past year have included the FDIC and U.S. Marshals Service.

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Pavan A

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA