Crypto Banking Firm BVNK Raises $40M in Series A

South African crypto-to-fiat startup BVNK has raised $40 million in a Series A funding round, the company said on its website Thursday (May 12).

BVNK said it wants to use the funding to carry on with its goal of building an “international payments and banking infrastructure, one that will support both crypto and fiat currency transactions with an agile, digital-first model.”

The company’s backers include Tiger Global, The Raba Partnership, Avenir, Kingsway Capital, Nordstar, Concentric, and Base Capital.

“On its own, this win is reason enough to celebrate,” the announcement said. “But put it alongside our rapid growth in monthly payments volumes, which have doubled since January of this year (we now process $2 billion annually), there’s clearly something very exciting going on.”

That something, BVNK said, is crypto’s move to the corporate mainstream, and its eventual placement next to fiat “as a core currency for payments and treasury.”

The company argued corporations can benefit from embracing cryptocurrency, saying it reduces reliance on intermediaries during cross-border settlements and provides CFOs and treasurers with more control and transparency.

“But perhaps most compelling is the fact that customers increasingly want to use cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services,” BVNK said.

Read more: PYMNTS Data Show Crypto’s Use for in-Store Purchases Is Growing

That consumer interest is illustrated in PYMNTS’ U.S. Crypto Consumer survey, which found that 25% of people who responded said they prefer — and would be more likely to seek out – merchants that accept cryptocurrency.

“Interest in using cryptocurrency to pay for purchases is a reality,” the report found. “There is untapped potential for crypto owners to use it to make purchases instead of using more traditional payment alternatives.”

The study, conducted with the sponsorship of crypto payments processor BitPay, also found that 30% of the crypto owners that participated in the survey purchased something online with their digital assets. A fifth of those who replied did the same at a brick-and-mortar retailer.