Anchorage CEO Diogo Monica predicts that banks will offer crypto offerings, such as the ability to buy and sell bitcoin, to their customers in the new year. The fast-growing crypto storage firm had obtained a federal bank charter in January 2021. This has enabled Anchorage to win contracts, which began as custody arrangements, with banks and VISA.
Diogo believes new lines of business will emerge for Anchorage as banks seek to offer products like DeFi-based yield offerings. He told Decrypt that the company has benefitted from the growing range of crypto assets, including NFTs.
Anchorage, established in 2017, has recorded significant growth in 2021. The US Marshals Service in July picked the firm to help the law enforcement agency store and manage digital assets seized from criminal organizations and individuals. In August, Anchorage helped VISA with its first NFT purchase – CryptoPunk #7610. Reports say Anchorage helped the global debit/credit card financial services giant to own an NFT.
Diogo highlighted that Anchorage has no plans to walk in the footsteps of Robinhood or Coinbase to conduct an initial public offering (IPO). He said the company has a good balance sheet. Diogo revealed that Anchorage hasn’t touched the $80 million which it raised in February 2021.
He added that the new Series D, which valuates the company at just over $3 billion, will provide Anchorage with a capital cushion and key strategic partners. The Series D round saw participation from Kraken, PayPal, Goldman Sachs, Blockchain, and BlackRock.
