Bessie Liu

Capitual, a multicurrency digital bank that offers cryptocurrencies in Brazil, has partnered with Azimut to expand its services to various European countries and Mexico.



The Brazilian company that offers fiat on-ramp services is the point of entry into its country for many sizeable global cryptocurrency exchanges, including Kucoin, Huobi and Bitget, but this latest partnership will finally allow the company to offer its services internationally.



“We want to replicate the product we have in Brazil in other countries, serving our partners in other jurisdictions as well,” Guilherme Nunes, chief executive of Capitual, <a href="https://valor.globo.com/financas/criptomoedas/noticia/2023/02/03/capitual-recebe-aporte-da-azimut-para-expansao-externa.ghtml" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a> Valor Econômico, a news company based in Brazil. “The idea is to become a center of blockchain technology in these markets,” he added.



Azimut will also invest 15 million euros ($16.1 million) into Capitual to assist with its expansion ambitions. This latest funding will bring Capitual’s valuation to 302 million euros, edging it closer to unicorn status in Brazil.



The asset management firm has always had an interest in cryptocurrencies. In September 2021, it launched a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sbi-sygnum-and-azimut-found-new-75m-fund">$75 million venture fund</a> with SBI Group and Sygnum to invest in early-stage startups working on decentralized finance DeFi, blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) infrastructure projects.



Giorgio Medda, the CEO of Azimut, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7027384652696809472/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">noted</a> on LinkedIn that this latest partnership reflects the firm&#8217;s belief that blockchain technology will eventually change the financial services industry as we know it. 



“The partnership with Capitual focuses on the technology built to ensure protection and compliance in the infrastructure embedding the disruptive changes which are forming new business paradigms in our industry,” Medda said.



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Brazilian Crypto Company Moves Into European Markets With New Partnership

Macauley Peterson

<div id="highlights-block_61559b81a94fc" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Fund to focus on blockchain infrastructure, DeFi and regulatory technology tools in Europe and Southeast Asia</li>
 <li>SBI estimated up to 10% of global GDP projected will be stored and transacted using DLT infrastructure by 2027</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Japan’s largest FinTech conglomerate, SBI Group, joins the world’s first digital asset bank Sygnum and Azimut Group a leading independent asset manager in Europe to launch a venture capital fund of up to $75 million which will invest in start-up companies in the digital asset sector.



The Singapore-incorporated fund, dubbed Variable Capital Company, aims to &#8220;accelerate the growth of promising companies in this sector, while providing qualifying investors with unrivalled access to the fast-growing digital asset economy,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.insights.sygnum.com/post/sbi-sygnum-and-azimut-launch-a-digital-asset-sector-focused-venture-capital-fund" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a Sygnum press release</a>.



The investment strategy will focus on early stage start-ups developing blockchain/distributed ledger technology (DLT) infrastructure, decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions and regulatory technology tools.



This year has seen a tremendous <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/?s=funding" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">influx of funding into crypto</a>, Sygnum notes, through the first half of 2021 along, over $17 billion of investments have flooded the space including seven of the ten largest blockchain/DLT and cryptocurrency funding rounds of all time.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“DLT and digital assets are at the inflection point of mainstream adoption, and they have the potential to reduce inefficiencies and unlock new capabilities across several sectors, such as financial services and supply chain management,” said Ryosuke Hayashi, CEO and Managing Director of SBI Ven Capital.</blockquote>



Funds are almost routinely raising hundreds of millions of dollars to invest in new technology startups. Earlier this month, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/as-crypto-vc-funding-hits-record-high-pantera-launched-600m-fund/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pantera Capital announced</a> a new $600 million blockchain fund. In fact, Blockworks <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crypto-venture-funding-is-at-an-all-time-high-this-is-where-the-money-is-going/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">previously reported</a> that crypto venture capital is at an all-time high.



Regulatory technology (or reg tech) is another major theme of the new fund. The trio of companies believes that increased oversight by regulators of the digital asset sector will require new tools for digital asset service providers and their clients.



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