Talos raises $105M to become the latest crypto unicorn valued at $1.3B

PayPal-backed cryptocurrency firm Talos is becoming the latest unicorn in the industry, reaching a $1.25 billion valuation following new funding.

Talos has raised $105 million in Series B funding round led by a major global growth equity firm, General Atlantic, according to an announcement released on May 10.

The funding will help Talos extend its institutional-grade digital asset platform as well as accelerate the firm’s expansion into the Asia-Pacific region and Europe.

The raise featured major firms in both the traditional finance and the crypto industry, including Ken Fox’s private equity firm Stripes, BNY Mellon, Citi, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, investment firms like DRW and SCB 10x, crypto trading platform Voyager and others.

“This investment is the latest example of BNY Mellon’s commitment to the future of digital assets,” BNY Mellon’s global FX head Jason Vitale said. He added that BNY Mellon is among new advisors on Talos’ Strategic Investor Forum working on building institutional solutions for the crypto market.

The funding round also involved existing investors from Talos’ $40 Series A round closed in May 2021, including Andreessen Horowitz, PayPal Ventures, Fidelity Investments, Castle Island Ventures, Illuminate, Notation Capital and Initialized Capital.

The funding is a major indicator of the growing institutional adoption, Talos co-founder and CEO Anton Katz said:

“This funding round represents a major inflection point for the industry. We’ve long heard that ‘the institutions are coming’. The institutions are now here, and we’re extremely proud to be the digital asset trading platform of choice for leading institutions around the world.”

Founded in 2018, Talos is an institutional-grade infrastructure technology provider in the cryptocurrency industry, offering services for trading, settlement and others.

Related: Philippines' fintech achieves unicorn status after embracing crypto payments

According to the company’s website, Talos’ partner base covers a wide number of firms in the crypto ecosystem, including multiple exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and FTX, as well as over-the-counter desks and FX platforms. Talos says its institutional trading volumes surged 20x times year-over-year by May 2022.