Google and billionaire Branson lead $270 million round for bitcoin wallet company

Blockchain CEO Smith

According to CNBC Beijing time on June 23, Bitcoin wallet company Blockchain announced on Thursday that it has raised $40 million (about 270 million yuan) in financing, led by venture capital firm Lakestar, Google Ventures and billionaire Richard Branson.

The investment comes amid growing interest in cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin, whose price recently hit a record high and has seen staggering gains since the beginning of the year.

Blockchain has developed a Bitcoin wallet, which is essentially a piece of software that can store the digital currency and process transactions between users.

According to Blockchain CEO Pete Smith, the $40 million in funding will be used to further expand the team and invest in research and development. In addition, the startup also hopes to open new offices in different countries for expansion.

Smith said the recent rise in bitcoin prices has caused a surge in demand for Blockchain's wallet products, and the new funding will help the company meet that demand.

“We are focused on scaling to meet the record demand in the market,” Smith told CNBC.

He said Blockchain has nearly 15 million registered users and "billions of dollars in monthly wallet activity," including deposits and transactions.

Smith also said the company's total revenue this year is expected to increase by more than 1,000% year-on-year, but he did not disclose specific figures.

Blockchain was founded in 2011 and now has users in 140 countries around the world. Its last round of financing was in 2014, with a scale of US$30.5 million. Other investors in the latest round of financing include Nokota Management and Digital Currency Group. (Compiled by Yang Fan)

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