St. Petersburg fintech investor Gary Cardone is leading a $12 million funding round for New York-based blockchain startup Node40 through his fund, Card1Ventures.
Cardone is upsizing his commitment to Node40, which he backed with a $4 million investment in April after regulators recently provided “tremendous clarity” on a path forward for digital assets.
Cardone referenced a series of statements made by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler, including during testimony on Capitol Hill in April, that define the vast majority of cryptocurrencies as securities, thus providing guidance on regulatory expectations.
Gensler’s recent pronouncements are “going to bring in some of the largest players in finance,” Cardone said, “and they’re going to need all the compliance and regulatory tools, the reporting, forensics, auditing and tax accounting related to any of those assets.”
Node40, an enterprise-level platform that audits cryptocurrency transactions, was built for large-scale investment advisers to manage their digital asset holdings, Cardone said.
“Node40 is bridging the gap between old analog systems and the future world of digital assets, where we’re going to be accounting for things much differently,” Cardone said.
A portion of Cardone’s investment will go toward product development of a new tool that he declined to disclose details about, while the remaining funds will help Node40 double its IT team and build on its regulatory compliance division, he said.
Cardone, the twin brother of billionaire real estate mogul Grant Cardone, has resided in St. Pete since 2021 and launched multiple business ventures in the region, including Clearwater-based Chargebacks911. He said he wants to make Tampa Bay “blockchain alley” and a hub for connecting blockchain entrepreneurs.
“There’s so much going on [in Tampa Bay] ... there’s nothing that’s going to stop this market,” he said.
