This week, bitcoin traded at $788.49, the highest price for the digital currency since the collapse of one of its largest exchanges in February, 2014. And despite a significant decline of venture capital investment in the industry, bitcoin has been surging, particularly post election, reaching a market cap of $12.5 billion.
Tuesday, Chicago-based Glidera, a two-year-old wallet funding service, capitalized on this momentum, announcing that it has been acquired by San Francisco-based Kraken, a fast-growing digital currency exchange. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Glidera, which is a member of Techstars' 2015 Chicago class, is a platform that enables website developers to integrate bitcoin buying and selling services into their applications. This way, the startup serves as an on-ramp to the bitcoin ecosystem, allowing people to easily use their bank accounts to buy digital currency and send funds to the bitcoin wallet of their choice. As part of the acquisition, Glidera will be rebranded to Kraken Direct.
Explained Glidera CEO and founder Dave Ripley in a statement, "We’re thoroughly excited to merge with Kraken and bring even more value to our clients and partners. Kraken has built an incredible global platform and a talented team who share our view that partnerships are key to building the digital asset ecosystem."
Kraken, which launched in 2011 and has raised $6.5M, has been snapping up bitcoin startups all year, acquiring New York-based exchange Coinsetter in Januray and CleverCoin in June. With the Glidera acquisition, Kraken says that its exchange clients in the United States will now be able to "enjoy the added convenience of ACH bank payments to fund their trading accounts." Glidera will also now be able to expand its functionality internationally, serving customers in Europe, Japan, Canada, and the UK.
Added Kraken CEO Jesse Powell, "This acquisition rounds out a fantastic year for Kraken. We’ve seen incredible growth throughout 2016 across all areas of our business. We’re looking forward to an even better 2017 with this acquisition and our new ‘Kraken Direct’ service playing a key role."
According to Crunchbase, Glidera had raised a $433k seed round from several angel groups including Hyde Park Angels and M25 Group.
(Image via flickr)
