Casey Wagner

<div id="highlights-block_63584d0c09d78" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The IRA offerings include options with exposure to bitcoin, ether, solana, litecoin, cardano and avalanche tokens</li>
 <li>Prime Trust launched its beta crypto IRA in March</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



When Prime Trust launched its <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/prime-trust-launches-beta-program-for-crypto-ira/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">beta test</a> for a crypto IRA product, the financial infrastructure firm said it was just following the money. The trend hasn’t changed, so the firm has moved forward with its official launch.&nbsp;



“Half of US wealth is in retirement funds,” <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-xi-977500/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sara Xi</a>, chief product officer at Prime Trust, said. “Even if we have 1% penetration, we’re talking about $500 to $600 billion.”&nbsp;



Prime Trust in March announced the launch of its beta program for the Prime Trust Crypto IRA, a first-of-its-kind retirement account with a single application programming interface (API). On Monday, the company said it was ready to offer the product to the public.&nbsp;



The IRA offering includes traditional and Roth IRAs with options for exposure to bitcoin, ether, solana, litecoin, cardano and avalanche tokens. Market volatility has not deterred investors, Xi said, even for smaller tokens relative to bitcoin and ether, which are more commonly seen in <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/nearly-half-of-younger-people-want-crypto-exposure-in-401ks-schwab-study-says/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">traditional portfolios</a>.&nbsp;



“I think people need access to a diversified portfolio right when the market is not good,” Xi said. “Everyone is looking for all the different ways to diversify, and crypto might be volatile in the short term, but if you&#8217;re investing in a longer term, it&#8217;s a fairly attractive diversification vehicle.”



Security has been a top concern for clients, Xi said, and the product will offer a warm-hot storage architecture supported by multi-party computation technology.



The Prime Trust Crypto IRA is backed by the company’s institutional-grade financial API technology, Xi said, which includes compliance, custody, payment rails, crypto trading and settlement resources. The idea is to make it as easy as possible for business-to-consumer clients to offer the services, she added.&nbsp;



Prime Trust’s IRA product comes less than a year after <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/retirement-investment-provider-introduces-alt-401k/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ForUsAll</a>, a retirement investment platform for small businesses, partnered with Coinbase to launch its Alt 401(k), an investment vehicle that allows employers to offer crypto exposure through 401(k) accounts.



The news also comes as bitcoin finds itself in an <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/bitcoin-a-stable-investment-volatility-dips-below-nasdaq-sp-500/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">unusual position</a>: It is currently less volatile than major equities. For the first time since 2020, bitcoin’s volatility has dropped below that of both the Nasdaq and the S&amp;P 500 equity indexes, according to data from Kaiko, so investors suffering from the market turndown might find some respite in crypto.





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Prime Trust Crypto IRA Set To Leave Beta as Bitcoin Volatility at Historic Low

<div id="highlights-block_630506f3a2cda" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius says Prime Trust returned some, but not all of its assets</li>
 <li>Prime Trust ended its professional relationship with Celsius in June 2021</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



As Celsius’ bankruptcy proceedings inch forward, the crypto lender has filed a new lawsuit that aims to regain possession of $17 million of cryptoassets the beleaguered company claims it owns. 



In the <a href="https://www.docdroid.net/JerEtk7/cel-v-primtrust-pdf#page=2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">complaint</a>, filed in a bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York Tuesday, Celsius alleged crypto service provider Prime Trust failed to transfer crypto assets now worth $17 million. Prime Trust, among other services, provides digital asset custodial solutions to institutions. 



After working together for one year, Prime Trust ended its relationship with Celsius in June 2021, the complaint says. Prime Trust allegedly transferred around $119 million in cryptocurrency to Celsius, but has “failed and refused to transfer” the remaining funds, according to the complaint.&nbsp;



Prime Trust opted to remove Celsius from its platform “for a variety of business factors,” the enterprise provider said in a statement in June 2021.&nbsp;



“We won’t comment beyond that other than to wish Celsius well in its endeavors,” the company added.&nbsp;



Representatives from Prime Trust and Celsius did not immediately respond to requests for comment.&nbsp;

Celsius Alleges Prime Trust Owes $17M In New Lawsuit 

<div id="highlights-block_62b9fde9a550e" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Crypto companies and startups have received a total of $3.657 billion in venture funding so far in June, down from $4.219 billion in May and $6.829 billion in April</li>
 <li>One company had to lower its valuation 30% to close its latest round, its CEO said</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



As cryptocurrency markets struggle to come back from their recent <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/bitcoin-investment-products-endured-453m-of-outflows-last-week/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sell-off</a>, the days of record-setting venture capital funding in the space may be behind us. 



Crypto companies and startups have received a total of $3.657 billion in venture funding so far in June, down from May’s total of $4.219 billion, according to <a href="https://www.dovemetrics.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a> from Dove Metrics. In April, funding totaled $6.829 billion. 



“With increasing interest rates, investors are going to ask for a higher premium, and that means valuations are potentially going to drop, it means that you&#8217;re not going to see in a multi-$100 million rounds at multibillion-dollar valuations with a 20 or 30x multiple,” Rodrigo Vicuna, chief financial officer of Prime Trust, said. “We&#8217;re going to revert back to the mean or below and balance out, it&#8217;s all about balance and it&#8217;s all about cyclicality.” 



Jenna Pilgrim, CEO of Rite Network, told Blockworks her company lowered its valuation 30% to close its most recent fundraising round.&nbsp;



“What we&#8217;re seeing is investors, as each market drawdown happens, they tie themselves a lot tighter to their thesis,” Pilgrim said. “An investor in previous market conditions would have not necessarily invested outside of their thesis, but would have been more flexible, they are less so now.”&nbsp;



Saurabh Sharma, head of investments at Jump Crypto, added that investors may be taking more care in evaluating projects, but there will continue to be funding in the space.&nbsp;



“Very strong, quality entrepreneurs and conviction projects are always in demand,” Sharma said. “In general, I’d think the levels would be down, but I think from our perspective, one of the biggest focuses is going to be finding those very long-standing, vision entrepreneurs with high conviction projects.”&nbsp;



Prime Trust, a digital-assets custody and infrastructure startup, appealed to investors taking the long view, Vicuna said. The company just closed its $107 million Series B funding round earlier this month with plans to expand its product suite and portfolio.&nbsp;



Vicuna said the team at Prime Trust, which started raising its second round this year, was “starting to see the overall declining market,” adding “the writing was a little bit on the wall.”



“That really led us to look at what we need to weather a multi-year cycle and be scalable and efficient,” Vicuna said.&nbsp;



Prime Trust has about 700 customers, including exchanges, wallet providers, broker dealers and banks, and provides crypto-focused institutional products that eventually reach retail consumers.



Investors in the Series B round include payment processing firm FIS, Fin Capital, Kraken Ventures, Commerce Ventures and others.&nbsp;



“I think investors have the right sentiment of when things are hot, you grow, and when things are cool, you build,” Vicuna said. “Some might think of that as a tired adage, I think that it&#8217;s just good business because you have to prepare for not where the market is, but where the market can be.”



Tushar Jain, managing partner at Multicoin Capital, said it’s probably too early to say how current market conditions will affect funding in the long run.&nbsp;



“Valuations in private markets haven&#8217;t fully adjusted yet, because a lot of teams and projects raised money in the last 12 months or so, and so they&#8217;re flush with cash, they have more than enough runway,” Jain said. “A lot of these companies are in a very good spot, so that actually reduces the chances that we see a repricing of those deals, because they just don&#8217;t need to go to market and they don&#8217;t need to get repriced.”&nbsp;



Projects looking to launch in the bear market might tell a different story, Jain said.&nbsp;



“Then you can see public markets pricing those assets,” he added. “I do think launching in a bear market is better for projects than launching in a bull market, because it&#8217;s just less noise and only the people who actually care about your projects are there.”



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VC Funding Slows Again in June, but Experts Say Worthwhile Projects Will Get Money

<div id="highlights-block_62430befa4968" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Financial infrastructure provider throws its hat in the ring for a retirement account with crypto exposure</li>
 <li>With the rise of trading apps and crypto interest, this is a product investors have been asking for, expert says</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Financial infrastructure provider Prime Trust is following the money, and in the US, it’s in retirement funds.&nbsp;



“Half of US wealth is in retirement funds,” Sara Xi, chief product officer at Prime Trust, said. “Even if we have 1% penetration, we&#8217;re talking about five hundred to $600 billion.” 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-bw-389x219"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="219" height="219" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/sara-xi-219x219.jpg" alt="Sara Xi" class="wp-image-16266" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/sara-xi-219x219.jpg?w=219 219w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/sara-xi-219x219.jpg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/sara-xi-219x219.jpg?w=150 150w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/sara-xi-219x219.jpg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/sara-xi-219x219.jpg?w=257 257w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/sara-xi-219x219.jpg?w=261 261w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/sara-xi-219x219.jpg?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/sara-xi-219x219.jpg?w=50 50w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/sara-xi-219x219.jpg?w=800 800w" sizes="(max-width: 219px) 100vw, 219px" /><figcaption>Sara Xi</figcaption></figure></div>



Prime Trust announced the launch of its beta program for the Prime Trust Crypto IRA, a first-of-its-kind retirement account with a single application programming interface (API), on Tuesday. The new product allows users to onboard, fund accounts, and invest retirement funds in cryptocurrency, a structure clients prefer due to the tax benefits, Xi said.



“We see that traditional registered investment advisors want to offer crypto, just as another investment vehicle, to their end users,” Xi said. “We also see that crypto wallet apps and onramps have been doing quite well with crypto trading, but their customers want to take advantage of the tax benefits to invest some of their retirement funds into crypto.”



Through this new product, Prime Trust will offer traditional and ROTH IRAs and digital asset insurance for integrators and their users. Security has been a top concern for clients, Xi said, and the product will offer a warm-hot storage architecture supported by multi-party computation technology.



The Prime Trust Crypto IRA is backed by the company’s institutional grade financial API technology, Xi said, which includes compliance, custody, payment rails, crypto trading and settlement resources.&nbsp;



The beta launch comes as investors continue to push for ways to diversify into the asset class, Xi said. Bitcoin and ether are currently the most popular in terms of tokens, she added.&nbsp;



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“The IRA account is a very recent interest area that we see all of the end consumers and our customers of our clients are interested in,” Xi said. “It&#8217;s really the fact that crypto is now a mainstream investment.”&nbsp;</blockquote>



New and existing Prime Trust clients can now <a href="https://go.primetrust.com/cryptoira.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">apply</a> to join the beta launch, and access will open to those accepted on June 1, 2022. The company hopes to have the product in the hands of end users by early fall 2022.&nbsp;



Prime Trust’s IRA product comes less than a year after ForUsAll, a retirement investment platform for small businesses, partnered with Coinbase to launch its Alt 401(k), an investment vehicle that allows employers to over crypto exposure through 401(k) accounts.&nbsp;



Xi expects that the industry will only continue to grow, and she looks forward to the expansion.&nbsp;



“It&#8217;s a huge market, not crowded at all, and we welcome all sorts of competition,” she said. “We are the one provider that harnessed the automation from API and complimented it with a full operational team…our goal is to make the end user experience very frictionless.”



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Prime Trust Launches Beta Program for Crypto IRA

Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_61017a80f73e2" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>One of the largest industrial-scale bitcoin mining operators in the world, Genesis Digital Assets, announced a $125 million round of funding to support its expansion plans</li>
 <li>The cryptocurrency market has experienced a huge uptick in fundraising, with blockchain start-ups raising a record $4.38 billion in Q2 of this year, according to data from CB Insights</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Today was another big day for venture capitals and crypto companies as the industry saw even more funding for companies like Genesis Digital Assets, Lolli, Prime Trust and Biconomy.&nbsp;



In general, the venture capital world has been accelerating its growth into the cryptocurrency world. Just this week alone, Blockworks has reported about $700 million in funding news and it’s not even Friday.&nbsp;



Here’s a rundown of the news:&nbsp;



<h3>Genesis Digital Assets raises $125 million to expand bitcoin mining&nbsp;</h3>



One of the largest industrial-scale bitcoin mining operators in the world, Genesis Digital Assets, announced a $125 million round of funding to support its expansion plans.&nbsp;



The funding comes from a United Kingdom-based private equity fund, Kingsway Capital, that focuses on emerging markets with over $2 billion in assets under management, it said.&nbsp;



The company has been around since 2013, just a few years after the crypto industry began. Since then it has built over 20 industrial-scale mining farms and put over 300,000 miners online. To date, it has mined over $1 billion in bitcoin.&nbsp;



&#8220;Bitcoin is going to be the most important technology for financial inclusion of the global poor and unbanked and mining provides security to make this possible,” said Manuel Stotz, CEO of Kingsway Capital.&nbsp;



The funding will be used to purchase equipment and build new data centers in the US and nordic region, the company said.&nbsp;



The company plans to continue providing infrastructure to “power the open-source monetary system revolution” as it continues scaling its mining operations, said Executive Chairman and Co-founder of Genesis Digital Assets, Abdumalik Mirakhmedov.



As of July, the company’s data center capacity exceeds 150 megawatts, bringing the total hashrate over 2.6 exahashes, which is more than 2.6% of the global bitcoin mining hashrate. The company expects another 5.5 exahashes to be online in the next 12 months and by the end of 2023, it expects to reach a capacity of over 1 gigawatt.&nbsp;



<h3>Lolli closes $10 million Series A round&nbsp;&nbsp;</h3>



Bitcoin rewards company Lolli completed a $10 million Series A financing round led by Acrew Capital.&nbsp;



“Acrew&#8217;s sizable bet on Lolli says two things: bitcoin business is booming, and as the original bitcoin rewards platform, Lolli has the best team to increase adoption in the long run,&#8221; said CTO and Co-founder of Lolli Matt Senter.&nbsp;



The company was founded in 2018 to make “bitcoin accessible to all by offering bitcoin rewards to shoppers on everyday purchases,” it said. Earlier this year, Lolli raised $5 million in a pre-Series A funding round, Blockworks <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/lolli-raises-5m-from-new-investor-class-internet-celebrities/">reported</a>.&nbsp;



Recently, the company released its mobile shopping app, which allows users to earn bitcoin when they shop at more than 1,000 retailers including Microsoft, Kroger and Booking.com. To date, users have earned more than $3.5 million in bitcoin rewards, the company said.&nbsp;



Other investors include Banana Capital, Up North Management and Animal Capital, the Generation Z-focused venture capital fund founded by social media stars Josh Richards, Griffin Johnson and Noah Beck.&nbsp;



The funding round includes investments from independent influencers and entrepreneurs including YouTuber Logan Paul, Chantel Jeffries, Lauren Riihimaki of LaurDIY, Kenny Beecham, and Baron Davis. Early investors Seven Seven Six, 3K VC, Gabriel Leydon, and Forerunner Ventures also contributed to the raise.



The funding will contribute to international expansion of the company, hiring, partnerships and further development of the recent mobile app, the company said.&nbsp;



“Lolli is leading the way to mainstreaming Bitcoin and making it accessible to the general public. I’m thrilled to be investing and helping to fuel the growth of a company that allows users to earn and learn about this new asset class,” Paul said.&nbsp;



While many <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/tiktok-influencers-abound-crypto-traders-beware/">TikTok</a> and internet stars contributed to the round, CEO and Co-founder of Lolli Alex Adelman said, “We’re thrilled by the support of so many incredible investors and fellow entrepreneurs who believe in our mission of making bitcoin more accessible for all. We believe it’s imperative to align with top creators to both educate, distribute, and amplify the power of bitcoin to the masses.”



<h3>Financial infrastructure Prime Trust raises $64 million</h3>



Prime Trust, a financial infrastructure for FinTech innovators, closed its $64 million Series A round led by Mercato Partners, coinciding with the firm crossing $100 million in annual revenue run rate, the company said in a statement.&nbsp;



The round also included participation from Samsung Next, Nationwide, Commerce Ventures, Ayon Capital, Kraken Ventures, STCAP, s20 Capital, Seven Peaks Ventures, Diverse Angels, University Growth Fund and Nevcaut Ventures.&nbsp;



Although the company is not a crypto-based institution, it powers crypto exchanges, non-fungible token creators, digital wallets and more. It plans to use the funding toward expanding further into the crypto space.&nbsp;



&#8220;The funding will be used to add systems and personnel who are working on expanding the company&#8217;s B2B market share in crypto, including digital asset exchanges, banks, consumer retailers, OTC desks, tokenized assets and wallets, and in crowdfunding, including broker-dealers, crowdfunding portals and real estate syndicators,” it said.&nbsp;



<h3>Booming capital&nbsp;</h3>



The cryptocurrency market has experienced a huge uptick in fundraising, with blockchain start-ups raising a record $4.38 billion in Q2 of this year, according to <a href="https://www.cbinsights.com/research/report/fintech-trends-q2-2021/">data</a> from CB Insights.



Additionally, the global FinTech industry saw 88 rounds of deals worth over $100 million, up from 60 rounds in the first quarter of the year, the data showed. Although not all those deals noted in the report went toward cryptocurrency, the money and news speaks for itself as announcements pile in almost daily about new funding rounds in the crypto space.



This week, Blockworks reported digital asset platform Fireblocks raised a whopping <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/funding-news-fireblocks-eco-and-saber-labs-all-raise-millions/">$310 million </a>in Series D funding further enhancing its unicorn status, while Eco, Saber Labs, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/a16z-leads-20m-series-a-for-digital-wallet-valora/">Hedgehog Markets, Valora</a> and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/biconomy-raises-9m-in-private-funding-aims-to-simplify-crypto-transactions/">Biconomy</a> also announced noteworthy fundraising rounds for their respective companies.



Want more investor-focused content on digital assets? <a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/digital-asset-summit-2021-2/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us</a> September 13th and 14th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) in NYC. Use code ARTICLE for $75 off your ticket. <a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/digital-asset-summit-2021-2/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Buy it now</a>.