SBI Crypto Subsidiary Supports Crypto Mobile Wallet in $15 Million Funding Round

Cryptocurrency mobile wallet BRD has raised $15 million in a Series B financing round supported by SBI Crypto Investment, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Jan. 25.

SBI Crypto Investment, a subsidiary of the Tokyo-based SBI Holdings, contributed to the funding, which BRD states will help to accelerate international expansion and scale its technology platform.

In the press release, BRD also announced the availability of cryptocurrency purchases through the use of SEPA transfers in the European market through a partnership with crypto payment provider Coinify. In September 2018, crypto wallet Abra also enabled support for SEPA bank accounts.

Last week, SBI Holdings had announced an undisclosed investment in crypto firm Breadwinner AG, which is the developer of the BRD mobile crypto wallet. The press release notes that BRD is available in over 170 countries and has 1.8 million mobile users in total, with a total of $55 million raised in funding and $6 billion in assets kept on its platform.

SBI Group is a financial based conglomerate based out of Japan that was established in 1999 and provides a broad range of financial services from securities to banking and insurance.

SBI Holdings has previously invested in the crypto sphere, with two investments made last year in troubled cryptocurrency exchange LastRoots. The organization also opened its own crypto exchange, VCTRADE, in July 2018.

As well, in October of last year, SBI Group and Danish cryptography services company Sepior ApS partnered in order to collaborate in the development of a proprietary crypto wallet.