Nomura-backed Komainu raises $75 million strategic investment in bitcoin from Blockstream

Digital assets service provider and custodian Komainu announced it has completed its Series B fundraising following a $75 million strategic investment from the venture arm of bitcoin infrastructure firm Blockstream, subject to regulatory approvals.

The investment was funded directly in bitcoin with “appropriate hedging and risk management,” the Nomura-backed, Jersey-based firm said in a statement on Thursday. Komainu intends to use the capital to accelerate its international growth plans while adopting Blockstream’s technologies and establishing its own bitcoin treasury. In October, Komainu announced the acquisition of crypto custodian Propine to expand its presence in Singapore.

Komainu co-CEO Paul Frost-Smith said the partnership with Blockstream is a testament to its "determination to become the go-to provider of digital asset services for Bitcoin and the institutional market, as well as increasing institutional adoption.” Blockstream co-founder and CEO Adam Back, director PeterPaul Pardi and advisor Nicolas Brand will also join Komainu’s board as part of the deal.

Integration with the Liquid Network

Designed to enhance client services in collateral management and tokenization, integration with Blockstream’s federated Bitcoin sidechain, the Liquid Network, will cut the time for its off-exchange margining and settlement solution, Komainu Connect, from hours to minutes, according to the firm.

Additionally, Blockstream's AMP technology, an API platform that enables the issuance and management of digital assets on the Liquid Network, will help Komainu automate regulated asset tokenization and develop trustless trading solutions. Komainu will also integrate Blockstream's enterprise HSM wallet to offer institutional clients a broader range of bank-grade digital asset services.

“We are delighted that Komainu is adopting Blockstream’s various technology streams to enhance its institutional service offering,” Back said. “This is testament to the fundamental veracity of Bitcoin-related technologies and applications and marks the first time that these have entered the institutional arena. I am confident this will be the first of many such use cases as the institutional community wakes up to the power of the Lightning and Liquid Networks.”

Blockstream secured $210 million in convertible note financing of its own in October, with the funds used to accelerate market adoption of its Layer 2 technologies, expand its mining business and boost its bitcoin treasury.