Monochrome, the Australian digital asset manager, has raised a $1.8 million Series A fundraiser led by some of crypto’s most influential entrepreneurs, underscoring the growing potential of institutional-grade crypto-asset solutions.
It has been reported that the cash injection will be used by Monochrome to develop new products specializing in Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets. The Series A was co-led by Litecoin creator Charlie Lee, Blockstream chief strategy officer Samson Mow, former Binance CFO Wei Zhou, and Kain Warwick, the founder of Blueshyft and DeFi protocol Synthetix. After the raise, Monochrome’s total valuation was estimated to be worth around $15 million.
However, Monochrome was launched earlier this year by Jeff Yew, the former chief executive of Binance Australia, to provide an institutional onramp to cryptocurrency investing. The company is perhaps best known for the Monochrome Bitcoin Fund, a capital growth vehicle for wholesale investors. The fund targets a near 100% allocation to physical Bitcoin, which is custodied by the United States trust company BitGo Trust.
The report said that Wei Zhou described Monochrome as Australia’s “leading investment firm specializing in regulated access into digital assets,” underscoring the country’s “progressive regulatory stance” towards cryptocurrency.
Likewise, Monochrome, like other crypto-focused asset managers, is targeting institutional investors for inclusion in the digital asset economy. Demand for crypto among institutional players appears to be growing, as evidenced by the large inflows into Grayscale and CoinShares products, among others.
Surveys of institutional investors also reveal that a large percentage of wealth managers are planning to buy crypto investments or increase their exposure to the assets. With Bitcoin standing the test of time, more investors are likely to seek out exposure to digital assets in pursuit of broader macroeconomic objectives.
Thus, financial advisers could lead the charge now that crypto investing has been significantly de-risked from a career reputation standpoint.
Source: Cointelegraph
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