DrawBridge Lending receives investment from Galaxy Digital Ventures

DrawBridge Lending, a lending service provider for cryptocurrency owners, announced on Thursday, August 8, it has received an investment from Galaxy Digital Ventures LLC, a crypto merchant bank based in New York.

According to a report from BusinessWire, both companies plan to create a separate legal entity that will focus on providing structured financing against institutionally held crypto assets.

In a statement, Michael Novogratz, CEO and Founder of Galaxy Digital said the company recognizes the importance of partnering with companies like DBL:

“The institutionalization of digital assets is still relatively nascent despite increasing momentum and interest from a number of respected firms and industry players,” he explained. “As we look to the future, we recognize the benefit of aligning ourselves with smart and innovative strategic partners who know how to effectively execute in the institutional space. The team at DBL fits the bill in this regard.”

Founded in Chicago, DrawBridge Lending operates as a CFTC regulated Commodity Trading Advisor (“CTA”) and Commodity Pool Operator (“CPO”). It is a licensed lender and manages commercial loans in 49 states and in Washington D.C.

Although the Chicago-based start-up offers almost similar crypto loans as BlockFi, another crypto lending startup and a previous partner of Galaxy Digital, DBL’s CEO, Jason Urban, asserted that the two are utterly different in several aspects.

“Two core principles have guided our business since day one: risk management and compliance,” Mr Urban told Bitcoin Magazine. “In Galaxy Digital, we’ve found a partner who fully embraces this approach and will enable us to meet the steadily increasing institutional demand for many years to come.”

Christopher Ferraro, President of Galaxy Digital, has also commented on the development, highlighting the possible benefits the partnership could bring:

“Investors are absolutely opening up to the idea that a new asset class is being formed. Our partnership with DBL will allow more companies to realize benefits from their crypto holdings as the traditional ways of thinking about corporate and structured finance are being re-imagined.”