Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital buys crypto start-up BitGo in industry’s first billion-dollar deal

  • Date: 05-May-2021
  • Source: Business Insider
  • Sector:Technology
  • Country:Middle East
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Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital buys crypto start-up BitGo in industry’s first billion-dollar deal

Galaxy Digital Holdings announced Wednesday it has agreed to acquire BitGo, a digital asset infrastructure provider start-up for $1.2 billion in cash and stock. The acquisition is the first $1 billion deal in the cryptocurrency industry. The acquisition of BitGo will position Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital as a crypto-focused financial services firm offering asset storage, trading, asset management, tax services and a mining operation, primarily for institutional investors seeking access to crypto. It comes as the crypto sector's entire market value soars to $2 trillion.

"The acquisition of BitGo establishes Galaxy Digital as a one-stop-shop for institutions and significantly accelerates our mission to institutionalize digital asset ecosystems and blockchain technology," said Novogratz, the Galaxy Digital CEO and Founder in a press release.

San-Francisco-based BitGo was founded in 2013 as a digital-assets custodian service. It now offers prime lending, tax services, and trading and portfolio management. The company has over $40 billion of assets under custody, over 400 institutional clients, and processes over 30 billion monthly transactions.The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021. According toThe Wall Street Journal, the deal is the largest acquisition to date in the crypto sector excluding companies that have gone public via SPACs.

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