Blockchain infrastructure company Zerohash is in talks to raise $250 million at a $1.5 billion valuation, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The company recently pulled out of acquisition talks with Mastercard, CoinDesk reported, although the payments giant is still considering a strategic investment in Zerohash, and discussions are ongoing.
The increase comes amid growing demand for enterprise-grade crypto infrastructure, as more financial institutions move to offer tokenized assets, stablecoins, and on-chain settlement at scale.
Zerohash did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication. The amount could change as discussions are still ongoing.
Fortune reported in October that Mastercard was in final talks to acquire Zerohash in a deal that could value the potential acquisition candidate at up to $2 billion.
Zerohash raised $104 million in an October Series D-2 round led by Interactive Brokers, valuing the company at $1 billion.
That round attracted new investors including Morgan Stanley, funds managed by Apollo, SoFi, Jump Crypto, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, FTMO, IMC and Liberty City Ventures, along with existing backers PEAK6, tastytrade and Nyca Partners, the company said at the time.
Founded in 2017, Zerohash offers APIs and embeddable development tools that enable financial and fintech institutions to offer crypto, stablecoin, and tokenization products.
Its platform supports clients such as Interactive Brokers, Stripe, BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, Franklin Templeton, and DraftKings, and serves more than 5 million users in 190 countries.
Read more: Mastercard said it will weigh Zerohash investment after ending billion-dollar acquisition talks
