INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Harbor helps businesses legally issue cryptocurrency tokens that represent ownership of real-world assets like real estate, fine art,
company equity, and investment funds
become a fundamental bridge between the offline and crypto economies has attracted a $28 million strategic round led by Founders Fund and
joined by Andreessen Horowitz, Pantera Capital, and more
Following its $10 million Series A in February, Harbor has now raised over $40 million to dissolve the legal barriers to private securities
cryptocurrencies, Harbor CEO Joshua Stein tells me
Once someone like Harbor handles the technical necessities to make transfers instant, free, and secure, people will exchange a lot more
and expensive given there are often financial regulations or licensing requirements restricting who can buy and sell them
The lawyers to handle these sales can be expensive, and the process can take weeks.Normally, businesses have to be very careful about who
refuse to process an illegal sale
Harbor effectively bakes securities law compliance like know-your-customer and anti-fraud/money-laundering into the tokens themselves so
with its first client this summer
The tokens are ERC-20 compatible so they can be sold on lots of cryptocurrency exchanges and stored in popular wallets
Perfect Ventures, 1confirmation, Abstract Ventures, and Signia Venture Partners
Nicolas Berggruen of Berggruen Holdings, Napoleon Ta of Founders Fund, and Kyle Samani and Tushar Jain of Multicoin Capital also put in
Meanwhile, Stein says Harbor wanted to team up with Andreessen Horowitz partner and crypto thought leader Chris Dixon.Harbor will have to
that a source tells me you have to hope strangers want their deposit back enough not to screw you on legal compliance, and tZERO, which is
building its own full-stack compliance system
could make a lucrative business out of letting clients sell American securities to the Chinese market, which has shown a strong interest in
But his new A-list investors show Harbor is no pump-and-dump.
