Blockchain
Unicorn · $5.2B1,203 employees on LinkedIn · 19 known investors
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Blockchain.com is a global infrastructure platform for digital assets that provides cryptocurrency trading, DeFi wallet services, and blockchain exploration tools to millions of users worldwide.
Also known as Blockchain.com · Blockchain.info
Founders & leadership
Investors · 19
Also in the syndicate · 4
Valuation · disclosed
Disclosed eventsSource: SEC prospectus filings, and round valuations the company or its investors disclosed — follow each entry's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Blockchain.com (formerly Blockchain.info) is a private cryptocurrency financial services company founded in August 2011 in York, United Kingdom, and headquartered in London, England. It began as the first Bitcoin blockchain explorer and later added a cryptocurrency wallet that, according to Wikipedia, accounted for 28% of bitcoin transactions between 2012 and 2020. Its product set spans a cryptocurrency wallet, a brokerage and exchange, lending, prediction markets, and data, charts and analytics for institutional markets.
The consumer offering combines a custodial trading account with a self-custody DeFi wallet in a single mobile and desktop application, supporting deposits and withdrawals by bank and card, buying, selling, swapping and sending crypto, staking, DApp connectivity and NFT management. The company states support for more than 5,700 tradable assets across multiple chains and more than 20 products across market segments, and advertises reward rates of up to 10% APY on selected tokens through Active Rewards, Passive Rewards and Staking tiers. A third-party review notes the exchange itself lists a narrower set of roughly 20 cryptocurrencies across more than 50 trading pairs, with spot and margin trading at up to 5x leverage.
On the institutional side, Blockchain.com markets digital asset treasury solutions, OTC spot and options trading, token launch and distribution, liquidity provisioning and market making, custody, and staking services to token foundations, hedge funds, family offices and high-net-worth individuals. The company employs about 450 people and is led by CEO and co-founder Peter Smith alongside co-CEO Lane Kasselman.
Founding story
Blockchain.info was established by Ben Reeves in 2011 with a website that let bitcoin users track public transactions using their hash codes — a block explorer. In early 2012 Reeves and Brian Armstrong, later co-founder of Coinbase, applied together to Y Combinator's summer class with a proposal for a bitcoin payment platform offering digital wallets, currency exchange for a percentage fee and bitcoin payments. They parted ways before attending, disagreeing over custody: Reeves wanted users to control access to their own bitcoin, while Armstrong favored the platform holding custody of user wallets. Reeves continued alone on Blockchain.info. In 2014 Peter Smith joined as CEO, and the three founders — Reeves, Cary and Smith — worked out of Reeves' flat in York, formally establishing the company after bitcoin investor Roger Ver provided initial funding.
Business model
Blockchain.com operates a consumer and institutional digital asset platform. Retail revenue sources indicated by the sources include trading and brokerage fees on the exchange (cited by one review at 0.4-0.45%), withdrawal fees that vary by method and region, and yield/staking products. Institutional lines include lending, OTC spot and options trading, custody, liquidity provisioning and market making, token launch and distribution, staking and market data/analytics.
Fee-based: trading and brokerage fees, withdrawal fees, and institutional services including lending, custody, market making and analytics. One review cites cryptocurrency trading fees of 0.4-0.45% with a structure that rewards high trading volumes, and a referral program paying 50% of trading fees for six months.
Traction
Company-reported figures include 95M+ wallets created, over $1.1 trillion transacted and 5,700+ tradable assets; app store listings cite over 94M wallets and $1.2T transacted as of January 2026, a 4.7/5 iOS rating across 184K ratings, and a 4.8/5 Google Play rating with 10M+ downloads. Historical figures from Wikipedia include 2.3 million wallets in 2014, 31 million users in 2020, 65 million wallets in 2021 and over 31 million clients as of May 2023. A review site estimates daily trading volume at $2-3 million.
Latest developments
As of 2026 the company markets an institutional suite covering digital asset treasury solutions, OTC spot and options trading, token launch and distribution, liquidity provisioning, custody and staking, and states $537 million of equity capital raised. Its 'Earn' offering has been organised into Passive Rewards, Staking Rewards and Active Rewards tiers, and the app now includes perpetuals trading. Wikipedia lists prediction markets among its products and Lane Kasselman as co-CEO alongside CEO Peter Smith. Wikipedia also references a November 2023 fundraising of $110 million, though the source text is truncated before the figure is complete.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Blockchain.com describes itself as a global infrastructure platform for digital assets and claims 95M+ wallets created and over $1.1 trillion in transaction volume. Wikipedia notes its wallet accounted for 28% of bitcoin transactions between 2012 and 2020. A third-party exchange review ranks it 12th of 21 exchanges with a 3.2/5 score, describing it as a credible veteran with solid cold-storage security but a thin coin list, retail-unfriendly fees and slow support.
Long operating history since 2011 and the original bitcoin blockchain explorer; a dual custodial/non-custodial wallet model in one application; broad multi-chain asset coverage (5,700+ assets in the DeFi wallet); a company claim that no customer has lost funds due to a security breach as of January 2026; and a combined retail plus institutional product range including custody, OTC and market making.
Technology
The platform pairs a non-custodial wallet, where users hold their own private keys and which supports thousands of assets including ERC-20 tokens across major networks such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon and Solana, with a custodial trading wallet used for trading, staking and fiat deposits. It also operates a blockchain explorer providing real-time transaction data and network statistics such as hash rates and block sizes, plus institutional APIs, analytics and custody infrastructure.
Go-to-market
Distribution is primarily direct through the blockchain.com website and iOS and Android apps (10M+ Google Play downloads), supported by the long-standing free blockchain explorer as a top-of-funnel tool, a referral program paying 50% of trading fees for six months, an airdrop program for Gold-level verified users, and sports sponsorship such as the Dallas Cowboys partnership. Institutional business is sold directly to funds, foundations and corporates.
Retail crypto users from first-time buyers to active traders, plus institutional clients: token foundations, hedge funds, family offices, high-net-worth individuals and public companies. An invite-only tier provides dedicated support and preferred access for high-value clients.
Geography
Founded in York, UK, with headquarters in London, England, per Wikipedia; a third-party review lists the company as registered in Luxembourg with crypto licences in Bulgaria, the Cayman Islands and Singapore and availability in more than 200 countries. The company has cited user growth in Nigeria, Ghana, Colombia, Argentina and Ukraine and investment in European markets and Singapore, and previously operated an acquired office/team in San Francisco.
History
The user base grew from roughly 100,000 wallet users in early 2013 to 1.5 million by April 2014, when Blockchain.com was the most popular bitcoin wallet under CEO Nicolas Cary. It acquired ZeroBlock (December 2013) and RTBTC (2014) to add pricing and data analytics under one platform. Apple removed its iOS app in February 2014 and reinstated it in July 2014. By October 2014 the company had 2.3 million consumer wallets and raised $30.5 million, then the largest financing round in the digital currency sector. The World Economic Forum named it a 2016 Technology Pioneer; a $40 million round followed in June 2017 at a $280 million valuation. Institutional services began in 2018, the same year it acquired San Francisco app developer Tsukemen, and an exchange launched in July 2019. The company reported 31 million users in 2020 and 65 million wallets by 2021, raising $120 million in February 2021 and $300 million in March 2021 at a $5.2 billion valuation. In 2022 the insolvency of Three Arrows Capital implied roughly $270 million of defaulted loans; the company laid off about 150 staff (25%) on 21 July 2022 and signed a sponsorship with the Dallas Cowboys. As of May 2023 it reported over 31 million clients.
Risks & controversies
In 2022 the company disclosed roughly $270 million of exposure to loans in default following the insolvency of Three Arrows Capital, and subsequently laid off about 25% of staff (roughly 150 people). Apple's 2014 removal of its iOS app temporarily cut off distribution. Third-party review coverage cites a limited coin selection on the exchange, fees unfavourable to retail users, and email-only customer support with mixed reviews; recent app store reviews describe stuck deposits and withdrawals, verification lockouts and glitches in the perpetuals trading section, with company responses directing users to support.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Founder mafia
The Blockchain mafia →13 people who came through Blockchain went on to found or lead other companies.
+ 1 more
Competitors · 10
by search overlap
Companies competing with Blockchain for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 13
launches, deals, and filingsThe CEO told shareholders that Three Arrows Capital's insolvency implied a default impact of roughly $270 million in cryptocurrency and US dollar loans made by Blockchain.com.
$270M source ↗
The Cowboys became the first NFL team to add a digital currency platform as a sponsor.
Acquired the San Francisco-based app-development startup in mid-2018.
Apple removed the app, then the only bitcoin wallet app available to Apple users, prompting public criticism in the bitcoin community; the app was reinstated in July 2014.
RTBTC's technology was integrated with existing services to create a single platform covering wallet, pricing and analytics, and the blockchain explorer.
Smith joined founders Ben Reeves and Nicolas Cary; the company was formally established after bitcoin investor Roger Ver provided initial funding.
Blockchain.com acquired ZeroBlock, an app for bitcoin pricing, adding data services.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
Top 10 Cryptocurrency/Blockchain Capital Raises and Investors in the U.S. - June 1st - 30th, 2026 | Castle Placement®castleplacement.com · Jul 2026▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Blockchainblockchain.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Blockchain do?
- Blockchain.com is a cryptocurrency financial services company operating a wallet, brokerage, exchange and the original bitcoin blockchain explorer.
- Who founded Blockchain?
- Blockchain was founded by Nicolas Cary, Ben R..
- Who are Blockchain's investors?
- Blockchain's investors include Blue Lion Global, Coinbase Ventures, CRV (Charles River Ventures), Digital Currency Group, Future Perfect Ventures, Mosaic Ventures, Prudence, R136 Ventures and 7 more.