The cross-chain protocol raised funding at a market valuation of $2.5 billion, finalizing its separation from Jump Trading, which is scaling back crypto trading due to scrutiny.
Wormhole, a cross-chain bridging platform, raised $225 million at a $2.5 billion valuation from investors Coinbase Ventures, Multicoin Capital and Jump Trading, which initially incubated the defi protocol under its Jump Crypto digital asset division.
Instead of shares, Wormhole issued token warrants to investors. These guarantees guarantee that investors will receive an allocated supply of a crypto token released by the protocol.
The fundraising was the final step in resolving Wormhole’s departure from the Jump umbrella following regulatory scrutiny in the US and security breaches suffered by the blockchain messaging tool. Additionally, Wormhole now operates under the management of Wormhole Labs.
The wormhole itself is now completely separate from Jump.
Dan Reecer, COO of the Wormhole Foundation
Wormhole plans to deploy fresh capital to bolster its reputation in the industry and chart a new course after hackers siphoned off approximately $320 million in 2022, one of the largest attacks in history. Jump Crypto intervened at that time, providing emergency funds to cover a 120,000 Ether (ETH) shortfall created by the indecent.
The company would later recover the stolen assets from Wormhole with the help of Oasis, a defi service provider.
Jump Trading is also phasing out crypto efforts after Terraform Labs collapsed in mid-2022, with subsequent legal action claiming the company generated $1.3 billion by inflating the price of Terra’s UST token.
Kanav Kariya, president of Jump Crypto, exercised his Fifth Amendment rights when he was deposed by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawyers over the company’s role in the Terra ecosystem.
An SEC complaint also pointed to an unnamed U.S. trading company involved in price manipulation by UST, allegedly spurring speculation that Jump was that company.
