Reinventure, an Australia-based venture capital firm, has been disclosed as one of the investors behind Coinbase's record-breaking $75 million funding round earlier this year.
Reinventure is largely backed by Westpac, one of Australia's Big Four banks. Three weeks ago, the bank revealed cryptocurrency plans of its own, announcing its trialing of Ripple's protocol for international Payments . It is one of three Australian Big Four institutions looking into how the protocol can streamline transfers.
The bank is also one of several notable financial players to have participated in the January investment. These include New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), USAA Bank, BBVA, as well as former Citi CEO Vikram Pandit. NYSE later launched its Bitcoin Index, which tracks Bitcoin prices on Coinbase's exchange, and USAA revealed its looking into Bitcoin's blockchain technology to decentralize operations such as its back office.
Coinbase's services, which are available in 25 countries, are not yet offered in Australia. On its blog, Coinbase hinted that this would change with the partnership, saying, "We plan to work closely with Reinventure and share insights into the use of digital currencies globally."
A Westpac spokesman confirmed the investment with Financial Review, commenting, "Coinbase's mission is to be the most trusted bitcoin company in the world and it is investing heavily in next generation security. Reinventure's investment will provide key insights into the use of digital currencies and associated technologies."
The amount invested is not known, although it is estimated that each party in the round contributed between $1 million and $10 million.
