Tiger Global leads US$350m investment in Near Protocol blockchain

[SAN FRANCISCO] The blockchain developer Near Protocol raised US$350 million, more than double what it got just 3 months ago. The investment, led by Tiger Global, is a sign of the frenzy surrounding crypto startups.

Near Protocol's market cap as of Tuesday (Apr 5) was more than US$10 billion, according to data from the cryptocurrency tracker CoinGecko. Near investors plan to announce the new funding on Wednesday.

Its backers see the deal as a signal that a wider variety of investors have faith in the blockchain's ability to be an underpinning of a decentralized web. A check from a firm like Tiger Global "obviously means they feel Near might be one of the protocols that can take over the world", said Amos Zhang, a partner at MetaWeb, which focuses on investments that are part of the blockchain's wider ecosystem.

Near's US$150 million round in January was largely funded by crypto-native investors. Near is distinctive, in part, for its emphasis on being easy to use for a broad audience, said Zhang. Over time, he hopes that effort makes the transition from today's web to a more crypto-based future more seamless.

More immediate, though, is the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which rattled the crypto company. Near's Ukrainian co-founder, Illia Polosukhin, worked with a team to help move at least 50 people out of the country and organized a charity that raised more than US$10 million to pay for medicine, food and evacuation efforts. Ukraine, a country with a thriving crypto scene, has seen entrepreneurs and tech leaders rally to organize grassroots support for troops and refugees. Polosukhin, who is now in Portugal, was part of a wave of millions of Ukrainians to leave the country in recent weeks. BLOOMBERG