Benzinga | Aug 17, 2021 05:16PM EDT

Peter Thiel-Backed Crypto Exchange Bitpanda Raises $263M At $4.1B Valuation

Austria-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitpanda raised $263 million of funding, further increasing the firm's already sky-high valuation.

What Happened: According to a Tuesday announcement, Bitpanda raised $263 million in its Series C investment round led by PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) founder Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures, putting the exchange's valuation at $4.1 billion.

Just back in March, the exchange also raised $170 million, reaching unicorn status with a valuation of $1.2 billion in the company's seventh year.

The crypto exchange announced that it plans to spend the newly-raised capital on technology, international expansion, and growth.

Other than Thiel's venture capital firm, the funding included billionaire hedge fund manager Alan Howard, REDO Ventures, and existing investors LeadBlock Partners and Jump Capital.

Bitpanda was born as a Bitcoin exchange in 2014, funded by Eric Demuth, Paul Klanschek, and Christian Trummer.

Since then, the company has expanded to facilitate the trading of stocks, precious metals, and exchange-traded funds.

The company now claims to count 3 million users and to be "one of the fastest-growing fintech startups in Europe."