The Protego Trust Bank has financial backing from some of the leading crypto market players like Coinbase, FTX, Digital Currency Group, and others.
By Bhushan Akolkar
Updated
2 mins read
Chartered cryptocurrency bank – Protego Trust Bank – is preparing for a fresh round of funding at a $2 billion valuation. As per the latest report, Protego had quietly raised $70 million from crypto market giants last year.
The participating firms include investment wings of crypto giants such as Coinbase, FTX, Ripple, Solana, Cardano, Avalanche, and Algorand. It also includes other prominent partners such as Digital Currency Group, Reciprocal Ventures, and NYCA Partners.
Crypto publication The Block was the first to report the news. It notes that the valuations of the company remain unclear after the Series A funding last year. However, sources familiar with the matter said that the company will likely raise funds in Series B at $2 billion valuations. The Protego Trust Bank’s Series B funding has just started recently and there’s no hard timeline for closing the round.
Greg Gilman, chief executive at the Protego Trust Bank is the founding member of the crypto bank. Founded back in 2017, the bank has made good progress over the years. Earlier this year, Protego Trust Bank appointed form US Comptroller Brian Brooks to its board.
Last year in January 2021, Brooks stepped down from his regulatory post. A month later, Protego Bank secured a conditional federal charter from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). this also helped the crypto bank in securing another charter from the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions.
While joining the Protego Trust Bank last year, Brooks said “the complexities and opportunities represented by digital assets” shows that institutional players would need secure and compliant partners in order to access this sector. He further added:
“Protego Trust Bank’s team is disciplined in balancing those requirements with a broad understanding of how distributed ledger technologies will transform the way financial assets are issued, custodied, traded and managed throughout their lifecycle”.
As the crypto industry continues to mature, crypto firms are eager to secure a banking charter. The goal is to offer regulated crypto services to institutional players. The issuer of USDC stablecoin Circle is the recent one to seek a banking charter. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire spoke about their plans earlier in April 2022.
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Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.
