If there’s one constant in crypto, it’s volatility. Since Bitcoin first emerged in 2009, there have been euphoric upswings and catastrophic declines. Crypto bubbles lead to crypto collapses.
Arjun Sethi, the co-CEO of Kraken, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges last reportedly valued at $15 billion, believes we’re now in the midst of a bubble. When Fortune’s Jeff John Roberts asked the crypto executive whether that was the case during a panel at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Park City, Utah, Sethi responded yes—with some nuance.
“Are we in a bubble or not? If I look at the overall slope over 15 years, I would say no,” said the Kraken executive. “If you look at it quarter by quarter, the answer is yes, we get into those bubbles all the time.”
That even a crypto CEO would say that his industry is headed for a potential crash speaks to the frothiness in the crypto markets over the past year. Since January, Bitcoin has repeatedly notched all-time highs and the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies has crossed the $4 trillion for the first time. That’s not to mention blockbuster IPOs from the stablecoin issuer Circle and the crypto exchange Bullish.
While some of that enthusiasm stems from Bitcoin’s correlation with the stock market—the S&P 500 has also set new records since President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January—pro-crypto regulatory changes in the U.S. are also a likely factor for crypto’s recent surge.
But all bubbles eventually pop, and there are already signs of a potential burst, including declining enthusiasm in crypto’s newest trend: digital asset treasuries, or public companies that amass crypto on their balance sheets to boost their share prices.
Proponents say these companies let investors gain exposure to cryptocurrencies not readily accessible within their brokerage accounts, but detractors say these firms are a quick cash grab and will eventually collapse. There may already be signs of that collapse. Last week, the average drop in stock price of 15 digital asset treasuries tracked by Architect Partners, a crypto M&A advisory and financing firm, was 15%.
Still, on the same panel with Kraken co-CEO Sethi, billionaire Barry Silbert, founder of the crypto company Digital Currency Group, was optimistic. “There’s a whole lot of crap in crypto right now, which is overvalued. I think 99% of crypto is absolutely going to zero,” he said. “But that asset class, the crypto asset class, is absolutely not in a bubble right now.”
And if Bitcoin’s history of big drops and even bigger rebounds is any indication, Silbert may be right.
Klarna… Yesterday, Klarna went public in a long-awaited IPO, where the stock popped as much as 25%. In the lead-up to listing day, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski sat down with the Term Sheet Podcast to talk about preparing to go public, why he loves Walmart, and the future of financial services. Catch the whole episode here.
Ben Weiss
X: @bdanweiss
Email: [email protected]
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VENTURE DEALS
– Higgsfield.ai, a San Francisco-based AI-powered video reasoning engine, raised $50 million in Series A funding. GFT Ventures led the round and was joined by BroadLight Capital, NextEquity Partners, AI Capital Partners, Menlo Ventures, Alpha Square Group, and others.
– Koi, a Washington, D.C.-based software security platform, raised $48 million in seed funding and $38 million in Series A funding from Battery Ventures, Team8, Picture Capital, NFX, and Cerca Partners.
– Pest Share, a Nampa, Idaho-based on-demand pest control platform, raised $28 million in Series A funding. Integrity Growth Capital led the round and was joined by existing investors MetaProp, Capital Eleven, and others.
– Optain Health, an Akron, Ohio-based company using AI and robotics to improve eye disease detection, raised $26 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by others.
– Ridge Bio, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based AI-driven enzyme and drug design platform, raised $25 million in seed funding. Sutter Hill Ventures led the round and was joined by Overlap Holdings.
– TERN Group, a London, U.K.-based clinical AI workforce platform, raised $24 million in Series A funding. Notion Capital led the round and was joined by RTP Global, LocalGlobe, PreSight Capital, and others.
– Clockwork, a San Francisco-based AI compute company, raised $20.6 million in funding. New Enterprise Associates led the round and was joined by AMD, Broadcom, and others.
– Born, a Berlin, Germany-based developer of AI apps designed to serve as friends, raised $15 million in Series A funding from Accel and Tencent.
– Standard Fleet, a San Francisco-based fleet management platform, raised $13 million in Series A funding. Nova Threshold led the round and was joined by WEX Venture Capital and others.
– Speedchain, an Atlanta, Ga.-based expense manager and card issuer, raised $11 million in Series A funding from GTM Fund, Village Global, TTV Capital, K5 Global, Tandem, and Emigrant Bank.
– Hush Security, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based machine access security company, raised $11 million in seed funding. Battery Ventures and YL Ventures led the round.
– Kamino, a São Paolo, Brazil-based financial operating system, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Flourish Ventures and Quona Capital led the round.
– Accordance, a San Francisco-based AI-powered platform designed for accounting and tax firms, raised $10 million in seed funding and $3 million in pre-seed funding. Khosla Ventures led the seed round, General Catalyst led the pre-seed round, and were joined by Anthropic, NEA, Bain Capital Ventures, and Sequoia Capital.
– Klaar, a San Francisco-based AI-powered performance management platform, raised $5 million in Series A funding. Prime Venture Partners led the round.
– LocusX, a Montreal, Canada-based AI-powered resolution engine for video games, raised $3 million CAD ($2.2 million USD) in seed funding. Diagram and Triptyq led the round.
PRIVATE EQUITY
– EC-Council, backed by EQT Private Equity, invested $20 million in FireCompass, a Wilmington, Del.- and Bangalore, India-based AI-powered security platform.
– Hudson Glade acquired ComNet Communications, a Bethel, Conn.-based provider of low voltage infrastructure solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– Incubeta, backed by Carlyle, acquired RocketSource, a South Jordan, Utah-based AI-powered consultancy. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– SPATCO, backed by Kian Capital, acquired Excell Fueling Systems, a Buda, Texas-based fuel system contractor. Financial terms were not disclosed.
EXITS
– DHL Supply Chain agreed to acquire Strategic Delivery Solutions, a Tampa, Fla.-based health care delivery company, from HCI Equity Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed,
– GTCR acquired FMG Suite, a San Diego, Calif.-based provider of marketing automation software to financial advisors and insurance agents, from Aurora Capital Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– Samsung Life Insurance agreed to acquire a minority stake in Hayfin Capital Management, a London, U.K.-based alternative asset management platform, from Arctos Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
– Venture Investors Health Fund, a Madison. Wis.-based venture capital fund, raised $80 million for its seventh fund focused on early-stage medical device, diagnostics, digital health, and pharmaceutical companies.
PEOPLE
– Norwest, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital and growth equity firm, promoted David Glaser and Angela Johnson to vice presidents.
