For any startup, one major milestone to achieve is hitting Unicorn status. It’s the starting point for any company that’s going to go and become an industry giant. As the crypto space seeks wider global adoption, crypto startups hope to grow and become unicorns. But while that is still a pipe dream for many of these startups, one crypto company has written its name among the elusive unicorn group.
Sygnum, a cryptocurrency banking group, has now become a unicorn after attaining a post-money valuation of more than $1 billion. This accomplishment comes after the company secured $58 million in an oversubscribed strategic growth round.
📣 News: Sygnum Completes USD 58m Strategic Growth Round, Achieves Unicorn Status with 1bn valuation https://t.co/2bZnlcM6TW
— Sygnum Bank (@sygnumofficial) January 14, 2025
Sygnum announces it has raised a total of USD 58 million in its oversubscribed Strategic Growth Round, giving it a post-money valuation of more than 1…
Fresh off this significant milestone, the company plans to enter multiple regions with its new cash inflow, develop Bitcoin-focused products, and pursue other strategic acquisitions.
Among Sygnum’s latest $58 million investors is Fulgur Ventures, a company known for supporting major crypto industry platforms, including Blockstream, the builders of Liquid Network, a Bitcoin layer-2 solution.
Fulgur Ventures is not Sygnum’s only investor; many other strategic and financial investors, including Sygnum’s team members, participated in this latest funding round.
Despite the massive size of Sygnum’s latest funding, its co-founders, board, and team members still hold the majority ownership of the company.
The funds from this latest round will be used to support Sygnum’s expansion into the European Union and then the European Economic Area. The funds also come at a time when Sygnum is trying to establish a regulated presence in Hong Kong.
Sygnum’s impressive funding round has been attributed to the company’s multiyear business growth. In 2024, the company’s total trades increased by more than 1,000% yearly, a feat achieved mainly due to Sygnum’s collaboration with Swiss state-owned bank PostFinance.
Sygnum is also in a business-to-business partnership with at least 20 other banks, providing regulated crypto services to more than one-third of the entire Swiss population.
Among Sygnum’s successful collaborations are digital asset exchange AsiaNext and Prime broker Hidden Road, which work with Sygnum on its 24/7 multi-asset settlement network, Sygnum Connect.
Sygnum itself was founded in 2017. It holds a Swiss banking license but also has capital market services and major payment institution licenses in Singapore. The company also holds over $5 billion in total client assets after receiving funding worth $40 million in January from investors such as Azimut Holding, the Italian asset management group.
Read also: Singapore Takes the Lead as a Digital Asset Hub in 2024
Despite Sygnum’s recent achievement, which in no small way justifies the company’s business model, the company’s CEO has a significant complaint. According to the CEO, Mathias Imbach, Switzerland is losing its competitive edge as a major crypto asset hub.
In his words, “As Switzerland is currently losing ground to other jurisdictions as a preferred digital asset hub, we also must highlight the need for Switzerland not to ignore the importance of continuous innovation in the financial sector.” He however strengthened the company’s resolve, saying, “Sygnum’s mission is only at the very beginning.”
Dayo Paul
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