GIC helped crypto exchange Coinbase raise US$300m: report

The funding boosted Coinbase’s valuation to US$8b.

Bloomberg reports that GIC was one of the investors that backed Coinbase Inc.’s US$300m financing last year, citing people familiar with the matter.

Whilst Coinbase said it garnered investment in its October funding round from firms including Tiger Global Management, Wellington Management and Andreessen Horowitz, GIC’s participation hasn’t previously been disclosed. GIC declined to comment, whilst an official for Coinbase also declined to comment.

With the foray into digital assets, possibly its first, GIC joins a select group of large sophisticated investors including Yale University willing to dip their toes into the crypto industry. Most institutional money managers have shunned digital assets because they’re largely unregulated and have been used to finance illicit trade.

Coinbase’s October funding round gave it a valuation of US$8b, placing it amongst the ranks of the world’s most-valuable startups. That’s all the more impressive given the collapse in crypto prices last year.

Read the full report here.