·         Liquid will use the capital for offering new services and expanding into new markets

·         The firm has said that it is publicly in favour of cryptocurrency exchange regulation

Reports confirm that Liquid, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, has recently achieved unicorn status with the first close of an ongoing, undisclosed Series C round of funding from investors at a valuation of more than $1 billion, as it seeks expansion opportunities.

Apparently, the round includes two investors that are already in, IDG Capital and Bitmain, with the company planning to add more investors. It said the capital will be used in offering new services and expanding into new markets, which include a platform for security tokens.

Sources with knowledge on the matter informed that the company had already raised around $20 million from investors like B Dash Ventures, ULS Group, Mistletoe, JAFCO, and SBI. In addition, Liquid has also held an Initial Coin Offering for Quoine, its parent company, raising $100 million in 2017.

Quoine allegedly became Japan’s first regulated exchange to run an ICO by creating its Qash token. Qash was widely used to provide liquidity to the exchange and was ranked 102^nd crypto token based on the coin market cap, sources mentioned.

One of the key messages of Liquid is to publicly be in favour of regulation. Seemingly, the exchange does not have the same trading volumes as the biggest players like Binance, but its major focus in being regulatory compliant is what appeals to investors.

Sources added that Liquid is planning to expand its operations in Japan as well as in other markets. Singapore is next on its list where it has its office. As per Quoine CEO Mike Kayamori, the company is close to getting a Capital Markets Services (CMS) license with further plans to apply for a virtual currency license.

This would allow Liquid to provide a range of exchange services that could include fiat currency ramps, stablecoins, derivatives, security tokens and much more, Kayamori said.