United States-based blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis has raised a further $6 million from two major Japanese investors, the company confirmed in a blog post on April 16.
Chainalysis, which secured $30 million at the start of its Series B round in February, has hinted it will target the Japanese market in the future as it aims to ingratiate its compliance technology with banks and other financial institutions.
Behind the latest cash injection were Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and venture capital firm Sozo Ventures, the former already notably active active in the blockchain space.
“Chainalysis’s compliance technology is important to providing the insight and anti-money laundering controls banks need in order to establish next generation compliance frameworks,” Nobutake Suzuki, president and CEO of MUFG Innovation Partners, commented in the blog post. He added:
“Today’s announcement signals our joint commitment to growing the cryptocurrency industry in Japan and Asia Pacific more soundly and broadly.”
As Reuters reported, Chainalysis’ contracted income has increased 16 times in the last year alone. Japan in particular is keen on making its crypto-related ecosystem as robust as possible as regulators begin greenlighting new licensed exchanges this month.
“We are looking into opening an office in Japan in the next year or so, but we don’t yet have a specific timeline,” the publication quotes Chainalysis’ CEO, Michael Gronager, as saying.
Earlier this month, the company publicly took issue with regulatory demands planned for exchanges by international organization the Financial Action Task Force, which has called on market participants to keep extensive data on transaction senders and recipients.
This week, meanwhile, saw another Japanese investment come in the form of ST Blockchain Fund’s $200 million support of South Korean exchange Bithumb’s parent company, Blockchain Exchange Alliance.