Astra Protocol raises $9 million to keep building crypto compliance solutions
Astra Protocol, which aims to provide the DeFi industry with a compliance layer while tapping into the future growth of the nascent sector, has closed on a strategic investment round of $9 million.
The fresh capital injection was bankrolled through a token raise backed by a group of reputable crypto-centric investment funds. It saw participation from Republic, DAOMaker, Fundamental Labs, Faculty, Richard Dai, and Wave GP Cardano.
While this news itself is certainly attention-getting, Astra Protocol said it’s even more impressive considering that it coincides with securing recognised partnerships with the world’s leading legal and auditing firms. Their recent alliance with Astra aims to support the latter’s mission to provide a fully decentralized platform that carries out the necessary compliance checks on behalf of various blockchain, crypto, and DeFi platforms.
The weighty funding round enables Astra to scale operations, complete the development of its protocol, and to build out its ecosystem. The company is also looking to actively hire across many functions, including tech development, business development, and marketing teams.
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Crypto compliance goes institutional
Commenting on the news, Astra Protocol co-founder Arthur Ali said: “We are extremely pleased to announce the closure of our token raise and proud to announce strong backing from the top tier investment groups and individuals such as; Republic, DAOMaker, Richard Dai, Fundamental Labs, and institutional backing. We firmly believe that ASTRA is key to the future of DeFi. It will allow us to unlock the next path of growth in the industry, allowing more compliant practices across multiple countries and ensuring further participation from major traditional institutions. Our globally patented technology will seamlessly allow DeFi to continue its growth whilst promoting greater confidence from regulators without compromising decentralization.”
“We believe Astra’s solution is a key part of the critical movement for DeFi to become mainstream. We are excited to back the Astra team who works diligently to bring the benefits of DeFi to more people and organizations,” added Jonathan Han, Partner at Republic.
The decentralized finance ecosystem has grown exponentially in the past year, having reached a market cap of over $105 billion, according to the industry’s recent data.
While the sector is quite promising, because it can yield higher revenues while enabling greater financial inclusion, global regulators are conscious of lending, borrowing, and other critical services being carried out in the emerging space.
Astra Protocol’s purpose is to ensure that the decentralized finance ecosystem can stick to the rules set out by global regulators. The startup has been strengthening its ties with prominent legal service providers to provide customers with a legal layer that establishes confidence in their projects as a secure investment.
Furthermore, the ability to more easily comply with compliance standards could prove to be a cost-saving measure for both crypto firms and other players in the space.
