TRM Labs Raises $60 Million in Series B Funding Round Led by Tiger Global

TRM Labs announced on Tuesday that it raised $60 million in a Series B funding round led by Tiger Global. The San Francisco-based blockchain startup becomes the latest beneficiary of fresh capital within the thriving crypto industry.  The funding round featured participation from other notable investing companies, including payment giants Visa Inc (NYSE: V), PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL), and American Express Co (NYSE: AXP). Also, the Jack Dorsey-led Block Inc (formerly known as Square (NYSE: SQ), and Citigroup’s investment arm were present.

TRM Labs says it intends to use the new funding to grow its operations across the board. According to the firm, this would entail hiring in engineering, sales, products, and data science, as well as its business reach. The crypto-focused technology startup had earlier raised $14 million in a Series A funding round back in June. Prominent American venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners played a leading role in that exercise.

TRM is looking to capitalize on the booming crypto industry. In order to achieve this, the company wants to scale up to cater to this surging demand. In fact, company co-founder and chief executive officer Esteban Castaño recently touched on this in a session with Reuters. According to Castaño, “Crypto is growing faster than anything we’ve seen in our lifetimes.” Because of this, Castaño feels that companies operating in this space must be well-equipped to keep pace. The TRM CEO’s rationale is that people’s investments were more likely to be adequately protected with companies that had the capacity to handle such. He said:

“In the internet of money, hack is not the loss of data. It’s people losing their life savings.”

TRM Labs: The Journey So Far

TRM launched out of Y Combinator, a leading Silicon Valley incubator and startup fund, back in 2019. Since then, the company’s revenue has grown by 600% year-over-year, with its team expanding from 4 to 60. Furthermore, the blockchain startup currently has a close working relationship with threat finance personnel from various globally-respected security outfits. Some of these include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US Secret Service, and Europol. TRM also has data scientists from tech titans such as Apple, Amazon, and Google.

TRM’s blockchain intelligence platform currently serves various financial institutions, government agencies, and digital currency firms. The technology uses a combination of advanced tools, including advanced analytics, and intuitive visualizations, to aid the detection of crypto fraud and financial crimes. Some crypto-focused establishments, including MoonPay, Circle, and FTX US, use it to cover fraud cases and financial crimes within digital asset transactions. Such activities entail the detection, monitoring, and investigation of suspicious activities. In addition, the aforementioned firms also use TRM’s intelligence platform to meet Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements.

While there is a commendable surge in the crypto space, there are also concerns over the need for increased regulation and oversight.