Digital asset firm BitGo is moving into the more traditional securities sector. According to a corporate release, Bitgo has acquired Brassica – a Fintech providing digital infrastructure services to facilitate private securities and other alternative investments. Details of the transaction were not immediately available.
Focusing on institutions, BitGo currently claims that it secures 20% of all on-chain Bitcoin transactions by value, while supporting over 700 digital assets and serving more than 1,500 institutional clients in 50 countries. BitGo was valued at $1.75 billion in 2023. BitGo said it was pursuing a $100 million funding round to help develop the Brassica services.
Brassica was founded by Youngro Lee, well known in the investment crowdfunding sector having founded NextSeed, a crowdfunding platform, which was acquired by Republic. Lee, who is CEO of Brassica, said joining with BitGo will help in developing their vision of building the infrastructure of the future for financial services. Brassica aims to be a “one-stop shop” offering APIs to enable a portfolio of services for client firms. When Lee revealed Brassica, he explained the goal of the company:
“Today’s infrastructure solutions for alternative assets are often cobbled together through multiple incompatible vendors in a complex regulatory environment, which often creates unreasonable risk, errors, and single points of failure for market participants. We started Brassica to address this fundamental problem and provide solutions to enable innovators in both traditional and Web3 industries to build properly within a constantly evolving global regulatory framework.”
In a blog post, Lee said he feels blessed and that somehow all of his decisions have led to the greatest opportunity yet joining forces with BitGo.
“I am humbled and honored to join BitGo with my incredible colleagues at Brassica , who all passionately believe in something that perhaps the majority of the world have yet to agree on — the future of finance is digital. But no matter what anyone with fancy titles or advanced degrees might say, and no matter how loud they say it, thousands of years of human history shows us that the future can only be built by those who are willing to suffer greatly to force-shape the future they want to see. In the midst of extreme uncertainty, confusion and even fear that the entire world is grappling with these days, I truly believe it is incumbent on entrepreneurs everywhere to keep building, no matter what the circumstances, to try to solve real problems in life for as many people as possible.”
Lee shared that the global financial system has always had issues that need to be address explaining that if they build a new system for the future it will make global financial markets easer, cheaper and safer than today.
“…then we will be creating infinitely more opportunities for people to feel more secure, optimistic, and just plain good, about their own future livelihood. Here’s hoping that I can play my small part in this crazy world we live in, and here’s hoping that others will want to join along the way.”
Brassica was launched in 2023 having raised $12 million in funding while in stealth mode.
BitGo, which was valued at $1.75 billion in 2023, said they are completing a $100 million raise, which will help them further develop new Brassica products across asset classes to provide comprehensive services and an integrated platform.
Brassica brings with them a technology stack “including multi-asset custody, advanced capital formation solutions and streamlined record-keeping and transfer agent services.”
This strategic acquisition will aim to “significantly boost BitGo’s ability to drive innovation in the alternative asset industry while supporting a larger swath of forward-looking customers.”
Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo, said the acquisition will make BitGo the first platform to be able to provide infrastructure to support both blockchain based assets as well as traditional private securities.
In 2018, it launched BitGo Trust Company, a custodian purpose-built for storing digital assets. BitGo launched BitGo New York Trust in 2021 as well as “institutional-grade” DeFi, NFT, and Web3 services in 2022.
In 2023, BitGo introduced the Go Network “for efficient institutional settlement. Securing approximately 20% of all on-chain Bitcoin transactions by value, BitGo supports over 700 digital assets and serves more than 1,500 institutional clients in 50 countries.”