The global cryptocurrency platform Liquid just announced that it is closing its Series C funding round. The company has achieved a ‘tech unicorn’ status — with a valuation of over $1B.

Liquid is one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan. It is also one of the few cryptocurrency exchanges with an official license from Japan’s Financial Services Agency. It has now closed its Series-C funding round to much success.

The latest round of funding was led by investment firm IDG Capital. Bitmain Technologies, the largest producer of cryptocurrency mining rigs, was also a heavy investor during the funding round. The investments by IDG adds to the long list of cryptocurrency projects in its portfolio — including Coinbase, Ripple, and Bitmain.

Raising Major Funds

In 2017, Liquid made headlines in the cryptocurrency sphere when it raised more than $20M from venture funding, involving leading Japanese investment firms like JAFCO, SBI, and B Dash Ventures. That same year, Liquid also raised more than $100M in a pre-discounted initial coin offering (ICO) — the first registered ICO in Japan.

Proceeds from this current round of Series-C funding will go towards Liquid’s global expansion, product development, and core exchange operations. The exchange also plans to get involved in the security token market — a space still underdeveloped in the greater blockchain ecosystem.

QASH Token Rebranding to Liquid Token

The Liquid exchange is powered by the QASH token which will soon be rebranding to the Liquid token (LDL). The token swap from QASH to LDL has not yet occurred but is expected sometime this year.

The function of LDL will be similar to Binance Coin (BNB), with reduced fees for token holders along with other benefits such as discounted rates on ICOs natively hosted on the platform. All trading pairs on the Liquid platform will also be traded against LDL.

Although 2018 was a rocky year for the Liquid exchange in terms of actual volume and activity, this latest Series-C funding round should instill some hope in investors and traders that the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange is here to stay.

Will you be trading on Liquid? Will it become a global force in the cryptocurrency marketplace? Let us know your thoughts below.