Google’s Parent Company Participates in a Massive DCG Investment Round

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has taken another step into the world of cryptocurrency by participating in a new investment round for DCG (also known as Digital Currency Group), the owner of Grayscale Investments, increasing DCG’s market valuation to USD 10 billion. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, the fundraising round, sponsored by the prominent SoftBank – a Japanese venture company, brought in USD 700 million for the privately owned corporation, making it the second-largest in the crypto sector currently. Meanwhile, Alphabet invested in DCG for around USD 100 million through CapitalG, a venture capital firm with USD 3 billion under management. 

Barry Silbert, who is the founder and CEO of DCG mentioned that the investment round was not to raise money, but rather to allow certain early investors to depart and profit. 

Google’s investment in DCG is its first foray into a crypto-native firm, with CapitalG’s general partner David Lawee saying that he parallels between internet startups during the dot-com period and crypto companies now. He did, however, note that there is evidence that crypto has staying power, and he cited decentralized finance (DeFi) as a fascinating topic. 

However, in addition to investing in DCG, Google has already introduced itself to the world of crypto with a previous investment in Robinhood, a popular US trading software that allows users to trade a variety of crypto assets alongside traditional financial instruments such as options and stocks.