Digital Currency Group sells shares to SoftBank’s venture capital arm, Google and SoftBank in an agreement that puts the value of the crypto conglomerate at over $10 billion. 

On Monday, the Manhattan-based private company disclosed a second round in which existing investors sold shares to new backers. SoftBank led the $700 million deal, which included Ribbit Capital and Google Capital G. 

Digital Currency Group, which is also the parent company to many prominent names in crypto-space, is Digital Currency Group. Its valuation has been somewhat elusive until now because it only raised $25m in primary capital six years after its launch.

Grayscale Investments with its $50 billion in assets under management, is Grayscale’s largest subsidiary. Its flagship Grayscale Bitcoin TrustIt is currently the most important bitcoin fund and applied recently to become an ETF. DCG (or as it is known) owns Genesis, a prime brokerage firm, and an institution lending company. They also have CoinDesk which provides news and support for more than 200 blockchain startups.

Barry Sibert (founder and CEO, Digital Currency Group) stated that “we’re the most reliable proxy for investing” in an interview with CNBC. We searched for potential backers and hoped they would be there for us as we embark on our journey over the next few decades. 

Sibert explained that Capital G provides Google’s knowledge in data and consumer businesses, while Softbank offers the global reach and the ability to turbocharge portfolio companies. Venture capital firms are now interested in digital assets outside of bitcoin, and this investment signals their renewed interest.

Capital G general partner David Lawee stated that this was a way for him to help a possible winner in crypto financial service. Lawee was an investor in Lyft. Robinhood. Snapchat. He also founded an online gaming platform that was purchased by Viacom. Lawee says that crypto is growing faster than ever before, which makes adapting to new opportunities even more critical.

Lawee stated, “When I look back at the nineties very few businesses I knew still exist — it is very difficult to evolve as rapidly as technology advances — you have to be quite nimble to take advantage it.” DCG is flexible enough to invest in new ventures and make investment decisions.

DCG holds a variety of digital assets. bitcoin. In October, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency climbed to $66,000 and closed the month with a record 40% increase. Sibert was bullish about the biggest cryptocurrency in the world. He described it as “unstoppable” at this stage. However, most are not worthless, Sibert said.

Sibert explained that 99% of all digital assets are currently overvalued and have no real reason to exist. “But I’m also a believer in creative destruction and that’s okay that they aren’t going to be valuable —  what’s going to come out of it is some incredibly valuable, impactful protocols.” 

DCG, along with Ripple and Circle are now the top-rated privately owned companies in this space. Sibert stated that he would not rule out an IPO but said it was “not in our plans” and isn’t being discussed at the moment. According to Sibert, the company is financially sound and will surpass $1 billion in annual revenue this year. Sibert said that he had not sold shares in the secondary round.

Sibert stated that “the most common reason companies go public or rush to go public is because they need liquidity or money to acquire other businesses.” I enjoy creating this private company.