Digital asset exchange startup ShapeShift has raised $10.4 million in a Series A round led by Berlin-based Earlybird Venture Capital. The funding round also saw participation from Lakestar, Blockchain Capital, Pantera Capital and Access Venture Partners, as well as existing ShapeShift backers, including FundersClub, Digital Currency Group and Erik Voorhees (the company’s founder and CEO).
Founded in 2014, ShapeShift operates an exchange for digital currencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash and Litecoin. With this fresh capital, the company plans to expand its engineering team, ahead of its expansion plans and release of two exchange-related products later this year.
According to ShapeShift, platform growth has averaged 48% per month in the last three years, seeing an average monthly trade volume of about 50,000 bitcoins spread across 40 digital currencies and assets.
“What we saw when we started was that tokens were going to become a widespread phenomenon. We believed there would be blockchain tokens representing all sorts of value beyond currency, and that’s become increasingly true, which is why ShapeShift’s frictionless exchange is important,” Voorhees told CoinDesk.
Earlier this month, Indian bitcoin company Unocoin partnered with Shapeshift to enable its users to convert blockchain assets into bitcoin. With this move, Shapeshift’s API will be used to convert popular blockchain assets such as Ethereum, Monero, Zcash and Dash into bitcoin and then if desired, into INR.
ShapeShift’s aims to be the fastest, most private, and most convenient way to swap digital currencies, and while maintaining a competitive exchange rate. It recently appointed Michael Perklin as Chief Information Security Officer to oversee the information security architecture. Michael is well-known in the Bitcoin and blockchain sector for founding Canada’s first blockchain security consulting company, Bitcoinsultants.