Digital Currency Group
Company typePrivate
IndustryPrivate equity
FoundedOctober 27, 2015; 8 years ago (October 27, 2015)
FounderBarry Silbert
HeadquartersNew York City, New York
U.S.
ProductsVenture capital
Websitehttps://dcg.co

Digital Currency Group (DCG) is a venture capital company focusing on the digital currency market. Founded in 2015, DCG has invested in more than 100 companies in the digital currency and blockchain industry and is the single largest venture capital investor in the industry.[1] It is located in New York City.[2]


History

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Digital Currency Group was launched in 2015 by Barry Silbert, who previously founded SecondMarket, Inc.. He began investing in bitcoin companies in 2013 as an angel investor,[3][4] providing funding for digital currency companies including Coinbase, BitPay, and Ripple.[5][6][7]

In 2015, Silbert sold SecondMarket to NASDAQ[8]. Shortly after SecondMarket's sale, Silbert formed Digital Currency Group, with Genesis Global Trading, a digital currency over-the-counter trading firm, and Grayscale Investments, a digital currency asset management firm that manages the publicly traded Bitcoin Investment Trust (symbol: GBTC).[5][9] Digital Currency Group also served to house Silbert’s investments in 57 other seed-stage companies in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry.[5][10][11]

In 2016 DCG partnered with Amazon Web Services to create a laboratory environment allowing companies to experiment with blockchain technologies.[12]

Subsidiaries

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Genesis Global Trading

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Genesis Global Trading is an over-the-counter trading service for digital currencies targeting institutions and high net worth individuals.[9][13] First launched in 2013 as a service within SecondMarket’s trading desk, Genesis was rebranded in 2015 following the formation of Digital Currency Group.[14] Genesis loaned out more than $1 billion worth of digital currencies in less than a year after opening its loan desk in March 2018.[15]

Grayscale Investments

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Grayscale Investments is a digital currency asset manager. Grayscale's investment products are available to institutional and accredited individual investors through ongoing private placements.[16] Grayscale’s single-asset investment products provide exposure to Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Horizen, Litecoin, Stellar Lumens, XRP, and Zcash.[17][18] Grayscale’s diversified investment vehicle, Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund, provides exposure to the top digital currencies by market capitalization.[19]

Grayscale also manages the Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC), which was the first publicly quoted securities solely invested in, and deriving value from, the price of bitcoin when it launched in 2013.[4] GBTC provides titled, auditable bitcoin exposure through a traditional investment vehicle. It trades under the symbol GBTC on the OTCQX market and is available to individual and institutional investors.[20][21]

CoinDesk is a global media, research, and events platform that was acquired by Digital Currency Group in 2016.[22] The company is best known for its coverage of blockchain’s daily news, Bitcoin Price Index and data tools, and its tutorials and research products, including the quarterly State of Bitcoin report. CoinDesk also hosts a conference on digital currencies and blockchain technologies titled Consensus, [23] which was last held in May 2018 in New York City and hosted approximately 8,500 attendees.[24]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Agar, Ian (27 February 2019). "The top 10 VC investors in blockchain". Pitchbook. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  2. ^ Vigna, Paul (28 April 2016). "Bitcoin-Focused Investment Firm Brings On Western Union, Lawrence Summers". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  3. ^ Davies, Tyler (9 November 2015). "The 2015 Fintech Finance 35: Barry Silbert, Digital Currency Group". Institutional Investor. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  4. ^ a b Primack, Dan (23 September 2013). "First Bitcoin Investment Fund Launches". Fortune Ledger. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  5. ^ a b c Eha, Brian (23 February 2016). "From Toxic Assets to Digital Currency: Barry Silbert's Bold Bet". American Banker. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  6. ^ Kim, Tae (18 July 2018). "Digital Currency Group's Silbert buys more bitcoin". CNBC. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  7. ^ "Barry Silbert". CNBC. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  8. ^ Roof, Katie (22 October 2015). "NASDAQ Acquires SecondMarket To Help Startups Sell Shares". TechCrunch. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  9. ^ a b Tepper, Fitz (27 October 2015). "Barry Silbert Launches Digital Currency Group With Funding From MasterCard, Others". TechCrunch. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  10. ^ Primack, Dan (27 October 2015). "SecondMarket founder launches bitcoin conglomerate". Fortune. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  11. ^ Morrell, Alex; Campbell, Dakin; Morris, Meghan (1 November 2018). "Meet 2018's Rising Stars of Wall Street shaking up investing, trading, and dealmaking". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  12. ^ Coleman, Lester (4 May 2016). "Amazon Web Services Teams with DCG on Blockchain Endeavor". CryptoCoinsNews. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  13. ^ Chaparro, Frank; Todd, Ryan (7 May 2019). "A Conversation with Michael Moro, CEO of Genesis Global Trading". The Block. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  14. ^ Ngo, Diana (17 April 2015). "First Licensed Digital Currency Broker-Dealer Genesis Trading Launches in the US". Cointelegraph. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  15. ^ Shi, Madeline (30 January 2019). "The bitcoin market is in turmoil, but crypto lenders are thriving". Business Insider. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  16. ^ Rooney, Kate (1 November 2018). "Crypto investment firm Grayscale rakes in $330 million this year". CNBC. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  17. ^ Suberg, William (18 January 2019). "Grayscale Adds Stellar as Latest Cryptocurrency Investment Trust". Cointelegraph. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  18. ^ "Grayscale launches Stellar Lumens investment trust". The Block. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  19. ^ Roberts, Daniel (7 February 2018). "Exclusive: Grayscale launches new 'Digital Large Cap Fund' tied to 5 top cryptocurrencies". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  20. ^ Rosenfeld, Everett (1 April 2015). "For bitcoin, 'golden moment' or fool's gold?". CNBC. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  21. ^ Casey, Michael J. (1 March 2015). "BIT Poised to Become Publicly Traded Bitcoin Fund". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  22. ^ Matney, Lucas (13 January 2016). "CoinDesk Gets Acquired By Digital Currency Group". TechCrunch. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  23. ^ Roberts, Daniel (4 May 2016). "The 5 biggest bitcoin and blockchain announcements at Consensus". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  24. ^ Rooney, Kate; Chang, Evelyn (14 May 2018). "New York cryptocurrency conference triples in size, tracking for $17 million in ticket sales". CNBC. Retrieved 25 April 2019.


Category:American companies established in 2015 Category:Financial services companies established in 2015 Category:Companies based in New York (state)