Bitcoin Daily: Crypto Bank Anchorage Raises $80M

San Francisco-based crypto custody firm Anchorage, recently cleared as a bank, has raised $80 million in a Series C funding round, according to CoinDesk.

The round was led by GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Blockchain Capital, Lux and Indico also took part, the report stated.

Anchorage has been distinguished as the first crypto native firm to get a federal banking charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

Anchorage President Diogo Mónica said in a statement that the money will allow Anchorage “to rapidly scale to meet the rising demand for participation in the digital asset space, particularly among corporations and traditional financial institutions,” CoinDesk reported.

In other news, the state of Wyoming has debuted a bill that would allow for a company filings system using blockchain technology, CoinDesk reported.

The act would let the state implement the system, which would help companies with reports, data and other information that is legally required. It would also harness application programming interfaces (APIs) and provide security standards, which would work via authenticated digital identities.

Meanwhile, U.K.-based personal finance tool Money Dashboard has partnered with Zabo to let its 600,000 users view crypto holdings alongside their bank accounts and other financial products in the app, CoinDesk reported.

Zabo is a Dallas-centered crypto software firm working to connect crypto wallets with bank accounts, the report stated. The feature will let users access their main dashboard on the app, where they’ll have the option to see transactions on platforms like Coinbase, Binance and Bitstamp.

Lastly, Sorare, which is a platform offering digital soccer collectibles in partnership with big teams, has come off a Series A funding round with $50 million, Bloomberg reported.

The funding, led by venture capital firm Benchmark, will go toward helping to grow the community and launch a mobile app, the report stated.

Sorare’s products are blockchain-based digital collectibles, represented as non-fungible tokens. Over 120 soccer clubs, including Juventus, have rolled out digital collectibles on the platform, according to CoinDesk.

——————————

NEW PYMNTS DATA: HOLIDAY SHOPPING RETROSPECTIVE STUDY – FEBRUARY 2021

About The Study: The Holiday Shopping Retrospective Study: Merchant Insights For 2021 And Beyond, a PYMNTS and PayPal collaboration, examines consumers’ shopping practices and preferences during the 2020 holiday season and what these mean for merchants now and for holiday seasons to come. The report is based on a census-balanced survey of 2,070 U.S. consumers.