All that uncertainty was laid to rest last week, however, when Digital Asset silenced rumors by raising upwards of $50m (some reports say $52m was the total) from 13 major financial institutions, among them traditional financial giants such as Citi, CME Ventures and Santander InnoVentures.
The $50m round is the largest to date for a startup seeking to use private or permissioned blockchain technology, which unlike the open-source bitcoin network, is purposed for use by a selected number of trusted institutions for use cases including syndicated loans, US Treasury repo, foreign exchange, securities settlement and derivatives.
Further, the news comes amid a decline in funding for bitcoin-focused startups in the sector. Data from the forthcoming CoinDesk State of Bitcoin 2015 Report, for example, reveals that, when revised historically, "blockchain startups" have collected 34% of the estimated $1bn in publicly reported industry funding.
For many observers, the Digital Asset round confirms what they believe is a trend that suggests venture capitalists are increasingly interested in blockchain startups, and that bitcoin-focused companies are experiencing more difficulties.
However, some of bitcoin’s most high-profile supporters in the venture capital community believe that the attention the Digital Asset round brings to blockchain technology is good for ecosystem as a whole, even for startups focused on the public bitcoin blockchain.
Tally Capital founding partner Matt Roszak told CoinDesk:
Quote
At a high level, it’s a positive signal that people are putting money into this space. The public vs private blockchain debate is a different dynamic, but it's important for financial services companies, and Wall Street, to invest in this space
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