Unchained Capital is a Bitcoin native financial services provider. The firm offers collaborative custody multi-signature vaults as well as loans for Bitcoin holders. Unchained Capital facilitates lending for Bitcoin holders by allowing the holders to use their digital asset as collateral for the loan advanced towards them. In 2022, the firm managed to withstand the crypto winter that rocked similar firms like FTX and numerous crypto lending firms. Apart from crypto lending and Bitcoin custodial services, the firm also allows its users to buy Bitcoin and offers a Bitcoin IRA(Individual Retirement Arrangement) product.
Unchained Capital has recently announced its closure of a Series B funding round that accumulated funds totaling $60 Million. The funding round was led by Valor Equity Partners and saw participation from other investment firms and corporates including NYDIG, Trammell Venture Partners, Ecliptic Capital and Highland Capital Partners. The company’s valuation post-funding was however, not disclosed. According to a senior official from the firm, Unchained Capital aims to prove that if things are done right, crypto lending will not lead to broken promises as evident in the 2022 crypto winter.
Unchained Capital was c-founded by Dhruv Bansal, who also doubles as the firm’s Chief Strategy Officer and Joe Kelly, the CEO of the firm. The firm has managed to raise a substantial among of funding in a landscape that rarely experiences such success. Other crypto lenders that were once valued at billions of dollars like Voyager, Celsius and BlockFi declared bankruptcy towards the end of 2022. Through Vivek Pattipati, a partner at Valor Equity who is also joining Unchained Capital’s board, the firm has attributed the success to its ability to minimize risk for both the lender and the borrower.
Unchained Capital was founded back in 2017 and at that time it offered Bitcoin custodial services where the asset was stored in “cold storage”, away from the internet. The firm’s custodial services are unique in that they are collaborative – meaning that the firm cannot access the customers’ Bitcoin without their explicit permission. Later on, the firm launched a lending product where users could offer their Bitcoin as collateral in order to get loans. The firm has however, maintained discipline in lending, citing that it prevents rehypothecation – where firms use customers’ collateral to give out loans, make investments and pay interests. Rehypothecation can help firms reap big but in cases of failure, it is catastrophic .
With the recent funding in place, Unchained Capital aims to expand beyond custodial services, IRA’s, lending and trading towards a more traditional financial structure that allows users to create checking and savings accounts. The company is also aiming to expand their employee force that currently stands at 87, but in a “disciplined manner”. Using the words of its co-founders, the firm aims to grow from just being a Bitcoin company to a broad financial services provider.
