Crypto exchange KuCoin secures $150M in a pre-Series B funding round

On May 10, the KuCoin crypto exchange announced that it had raised a $150 million pre-Series B investment round, valuing the company at $10 billion.

With fresh backing from organizations like Circle Ventures, the global crypto exchange platform KuCoin aims to move beyond centralized trading services and focus on Web3.

In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, the exchange’s CEO Johnny Lyu said that the latest fundraising round primarily intends to expand the exchange’s collaboration with important industry players as well as encourage a wider acceptance of crypto.

“KuCoin is financially healthy. […] We are still in contact with many VCs, and we are open to have another round in the near future, as long as we can find partners that share the same value and vision with us.”

Jump Crypto, the crypto branch of renowned quantitative trading firm Jump Trading Group, is leading the latest raise. The USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin’s crypto investment subsidiary, Circle Ventures, is one of the new investors in the round.

KuCoin focuses on the DeFi sector

KuCoin intends to establish and invest in crypto wallets, services connected to decentralized finance (DeFi), GameFi, and NFT platforms as part of its aim to focus on expanding its decentralized trading services and presence in Web3. The company intends to invest in its subsidiaries KuCoin Labs and KuCoin Ventures, as well as the KCC public community chain.

Talking about the DeFi sector, Lyu said:

“Decentralization is an unstoppable trend, but we believe centralization and decentralization will co-exist in the future. KuCoin hopes to better cater to the needs of all classes of investors.”

The exchange giant has been flying high in the industry. In November, as TheCoinRise reported, KuCoin launched a fiat account to help crypto purchases with bank cards. Last year in April, it kickstarted a new startup incubation program with a $50 million check.