Cryptocurrency exchange and financial services firm Blockchain.com has denied attempts to sell assets or subsidiaries, and it is not in talks with other crypto firms about possible deals, a spokesperson told Cointelegraph on Feb. 18.
According to reports citing anonymous sources, executives of the company discussed selling parts of its business to other crypto firms, including Coinbase, between December and January. Blockchain.com refutes the rumors:
“No Blockchain.com businesses are for sale. Blockchain.com is an asset buyer, not a seller.“
The company, however, has been working on raising additional capital for its operations since October 2022, even at a significant discount to previous valuations. At the time, the round was expected to result in a $3 billion to $4 billion valuation, according to a Bloomberg report. The potential round would help Blockchain.com to navigate the crypto bear market better.
Blockchain.com doesn’t deny the efforts to raise capital but disputes claims about selling assets. The company’s venture arm recently exited an 80% position at PolySign, a startup working on infrastructure for financial institutions.
About 110 employees from Blockchain.com, or 28% of its staff, were laid off in January, just a few months after the company downsized its headcount by 150 in July 2022 following a loss of $270 million on loans made to the bankrupted hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC).
Blockchain.com claims to have over 37 million verified clients using 86 million wallets and a presence in 200 countries. In March 2022, the company secured new funding led by global venture capital firm Lightspeed Ventures and investment management firm Baillie Gifford & Co, bringing its valuation to $14 billion from $5.2 billion.
Previous funding includes a $300 million Series C round in March 2021 led by DST Global Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and VY Capital, as well as $120 million from a wide array of venture capital firms.
