Crypto unicorn: CoinList valued at $1.5B following $100M Series A

The platform’s growth over the past year mirrors crypto’s evolution from fringe financial product to mainstream digital asset class.

Crypto listing platform CoinList has concluded a $100 million Series A fundraiser to fuel its global business expansion, bringing its total valuation to a whopping $1.5 billion.

The cash injection will help CoinList to scale its business operations, support its community of early adopters and launch new product offerings, the company announced on Tuesday. The fundraiser was co-led by venture funds Accomplice and Agman, with additional participation from Fenbushi Capital, DFG, CMT Digital, FBG Capital and others.

CoinList has seen its user base grow by 42 times over the past year, highlighting the massive adoption of cryptocurrency adoption worldwide. The platform is designed to help investors gain access to new token projects before they’re listed on major exchanges such as Coinbase or Binance. Its biggest source of growth over the past year came from Turkey, Venezuela, Russia, Japan and the United Kingdom. The company currently has 4.5 million users across more than 170 countries.

The year 2021 has seen several crypto- and blockchain-focused companies earn the coveted unicorn status — a term that describes startups with a valuation of $1 billion or more. South American cryptocurrency exchanges Bitso and Mercado Bitcoin became members of the exclusive club earlier this year, while derivatives platform FTX became a “decacorn” with a valuation of $18 billion. As Cointelegraph recently reported, NFT company Candy Digital also concluded a $100 million Series A funding round recently, bringing its total valuation to $1.5 billion.

Related: Ethereum competitor Near launches $800M developer fund as DeFi competition heats up

Venture funds have poured billions of dollars into crypto startups this year, as smart money investors continue to back emerging projects that could reshape the global financial system. Earlier this year, Silicon Valley venture firm Andreessen Horowitz announced that it had allocated $2.2 billion to fund emerging crypto projects. Last week, venture capital firm Galaxy Interactive confirmed that it had raised another $325 million from 70 investors to back new portfolio companies.