Blockchain Sleuthing Startup Chainalysis Raises $30 Million

Chainalysis, the cryptocurrency transaction analysis startup, has raised $30 million in Series B funding.

The firm will use some of the funding to open a new office in London and a research-and-development lab in a bid to expand its presence in the U.K., where it has worked closely with the likes of Barclays, the High Street bank.

The round was led by seasoned VC firm Accel and included additional investments from Benchmark, which led Chainalysis' $16m Series A last April.

Brexit - the U.K.'s pending departure from the European Union - Gronager highlighted the importance of London as a leading fintech hub.

Chainalysis currently employs 75 people and has offices in New York, Washington and Copenhagen.

In addition to opening a new London office, Chainalysis will also explore research partnerships and collaborations with universities in London, which Gronager said are leading the way in some areas of cryptocurrency research.

Elsewhere, Chainalysis' longstanding relationship with Barclays was an important driver early on in the crypto space, helping to establish a bank account for Circle, for example.

Gronager said there is now a growing interest from both mid-tier and top-tier banks to come in and work with crypto companies, such as exchanges.

Although he wouldn't name names, Gronager said: "There are bigger banks outside of the U.K. that want to enter banking relationships with crypto exchanges, essentially following the same procedure as Barclays."

Having launched real-time AML software Chainalysis KYT last year, the Chainalysis team has now expanded this beyond bitcoin, ether and litecoin to encompass the growing trend for stablecoins, or tokens that are linked in some fashion to fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar.