PayPal’s venture arm is backing crypto risk management startup TRM Labs as part of a $4.2 million funding round that also includes Initialized Capital and Y Combinator.
TRM Labs analyzes cryptocurrency transactions to detect signs of illicit activity in real-time. It serves financial institutions, helping them avoid crypto-related fraud and crime, embrace crypto-related products and partnerships, and meet the regulatory requirements to do so.
The year-old company, based in San Francisco, plans to use the funds to grow its engineering and data science teams locally, expand into new markets, and accelerate product development, Esteban Castaño, co-founder and CEO of TRM Labs, told Cheddar Thursday.
The funding is more evidence of the renewed interest in the surveillance of cryptocurrency networks, an area of the industry that has so far been led by Chainalysis and Elliptic. As the regulatory landscape has matured, digital asset businesses have become subject to more regulation and are generally expected to do more to identify illicit activity in connection with their businesses.
Chainalysis, incidentally, laid off 39 employees Thursday, about 20 percent of its workforce to prioritize its path to profitability and go-to-market strategy.
This latest investment brings TRM’s total funding to date to $5.9 million.
TRM is PayPal Ventures’ second investment in a blockchain company, following its participation in the identity ownership startup Cambridge Blockchain’s Series A raise in April. These investments say little about PayPal’s crypto or blockchain strategy. In the past two years, the payments giant has filed a patent to speed up cryptocurrency transaction rates and launched an internal blockchain-based rewards system for employees. PayPal was also a founding member of the Libra Association but withdrew its participation from the Facebook-led digital currency project last month.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has announced that 100,000 businesses have signed up for a new database that collects ownership information intended to help unmask shell company owners. Yellen says the database will send the message that “the United States is not a haven for dirty money.”
A new version of the federal student aid application known as the FAFSA is available for the 2024-2025 school year, but only on a limited basis as the U.S. Department of Education works on a redesign meant to make it easier to apply.
A steep budget deficit caused by plummeting tax revenues and escalating school voucher costs will be in focus Monday as Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature return for a new session at the state Capitol.
The first U.S. lunar lander in more than 50 years is on its way to the moon. The private lander from Astrobotic Technology blasted off Monday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, catching a ride on United Launch Alliance's brand new rocket Vulcan.
Global prices for food commodities like grain and vegetable oil fell last year from record highs in 2022, when Russia’s war in Ukraine, drought and other factors helped worsen hunger worldwide, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday.
Wall Street is drifting higher after reports showed the job market remains solid, but key parts of the economy still don’t look like they’re overheating.
The Biden administration is docking more than $2 million in payments to student loan servicers that failed to send billing statements on time after the end of a pandemic payment freeze.
The nation’s employers added a robust 216,000 jobs last month, the latest sign that the American job market remains resilient even in the face of sharply higher interest rates.
A U.S. labor agency has accused SpaceX of unlawfully firing employees who penned an open letter critical of CEO Elon Musk and creating an impression that worker activities were under surveillance by the rocket ship company.
