HashKey Group secures $30 million investment from Gaorong Ventures: Bloomberg
Hong Kong-based HashKey Group has secured a $30 million investment from China’s Gaorong Ventures, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.HashKey Group is a regulated digital asset financial services provider offering trading, asset management, custody and blockchain ecosystem solutions.Gaorong Ventures is a Beijing-based venture capital firm that invests in early and growth-stage tech, internet and consumer startups. Its notable investments include Chinese firms such as Xiaomi, Meituan and Pinduoduo.HashKey Group previously raised nearly $100 million in its Series A financing round, announced in January 2024, reaching unicorn status at a pre-money valuation above $1.2 billion. However, it did not disclose any of the investors at the time. Gaorong’s latest investment in HashKey was made at a similar pre-money figure, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information, with a post-money valuation of closer to $1.5 billion, according to Bloomberg.The Block reached out to HashKey Group and Gaorong Ventures for comment.Crypto venture funding on the rise but still nowhere near peakCrypto projects have raised nearly $14 billion over the past year, according to The Block Pro’s Funding Dashboard, predominantly led by investments in other infrastructure firms like HashKey.Monthly crypto venture funding by category. Image: The Block Pro.Despite successful quarter-over-quarter gains last year, culminating in over $4 billion raised in Q4, venture funding is still down significantly from its 2022 peak, when over $13 billion worth of investments were made in Q1 of that year alone.Quarterly crypto venture funding by category. Image: The Block Pro.HashKey’s growing crypto presenceBeyond its crypto exchange and blockchain services, in collaboration with Bosera Asset Management, HashKey was also among the issuers that launched Hong Kong-based spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds in April 2024. HashKey's spot Bitcoin ETF has generated over $71 million in net inflows since launch and more than $21 million with its spot Ethereum ETF, according to data compiled by The Block. Hong Kong is the first and only region in Asia to list spot crypto ETFs so far.In December, HashKey Group launched its HashKey Chain on mainnet, joining other crypto firms like Coinbase and Kraken in building their own Layer 2 networks using the OP Stack, incorporating its native HSK token.Last month, HashKey Group set out 10 crypto predictions for 2025, including bitcoin and ether to surpass the $300,000 and $8,000 levels, respectively.Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.