Goldman Sachs and Citadel back crypto firm Digital Asset in $135 million funding round

• Crypto firm Digital Asset raised $135 million in a funding round backed by Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas and Ken Griffin's Citadel Securities.
• The company said it will use the funding to advance adoption of the Canton Network, a blockchain for financial institutions.
• The investment highlights how large financial institutions are embedding themselves in the once murky world of cryptocurrencies.

Crypto company Digital Asset said Tuesday that it's netted $135 million in funding from a raft of major names in banking and finance.

The firm, which touts itself as a regulated crypto player, said it raised the fresh cash in a funding round co-led by DRW and Tradeweb, with Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas and Ken Griffin's Citadel Securities also investing.

The investment highlights how large financial institutions are embedding themselves in the once murky world of cryptocurrencies.

Previously associated with fraud, money laundering and other illicit activities, digital assets have become a more mainstream asset class over the years as big names like JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley warmed to the space.

Just last week, JPMorgan launched its own version of a stablecoin, a deposit token called “JPMD.”

“With growing participation from global financial institutions and market participants, we expect this funding round to help us solidify our role as the backbone of digital finance,” Yuval Rooz, Digital Asset's CEO and co-founder, told CNBC.

Digital Asset sells a number of digital asset services to its clients, which include major Wall Street players like Goldman Sachs, Citadel and Virtu. Co-founded in 2014 by trader-turned-entrepreneur Yuval Rooz, it competes with the likes of Ripple, R3 and Consensys.

The firm will use the new funding to advance adoption of the Canton Network. Initially developed by Digital Asset but now open-source, Canton is a public blockchain designed for financial institutions to move assets and data around while meeting regulatory and privacy requirements.

Banks and trading firms are using Canton to tokenize real-world assets such as bonds, commodities and money market funds.

“This raise will allow us to build upon the continuing momentum around the Canton Network and accelerate the onboarding of more high-quality assets, finally making blockchain's transformative promise an institutional-scale reality,” Rooz told CNBC.

The network now supports trillions of dollars in tokenized assets, according to Digital Asset's CEO.