Cryptocurrency surveillance firm Elliptic has secured $23m of investment to fund its ongoing expansion in Asia
The UK-based startup screens cryptocurrency transactions for signs of illegal activity, from money laundering to terrorist financing.
The series B fundraising was led by Japanese financial services firm SBI Group which has been given a seat on the Elliptic board in return.
In addition to funding Elliptic's Asian ambitions, the new investment will also allow the fintech to develop products for new asset-backed crypto projects such as facebook's Libra, said Elliptic.
The fledgling crypto trading market is also attracting greater scrutiny from international regulators, hence the emergence of firms like Elliptic offering crypto transaction monitoring services.
“Financial institutions can no longer ignore the risks and opportunities presented by crypto-assets, and we are here to support them,” said James Smith, the CEO and co-founder of Elliptic.