The parent company of 21Shares and provider of cryptocurrency investment products, 21.co, announced that it had raised $25 million in a financing round headed by Marshall Wace, valuing the company at $2 billion.
The funding round takes place at a time when cryptocurrency prices have fallen sharply so far this year as a result of Federal Reserve rate hikes and extremely high inflation driving investors away from riskier investments.
The hiring of Sherif El-Haddad as its head of the Middle East, in Dubai, was announce by 21Shares last month; as part of its efforts to grow in the area.
The United Arab Emirates has developed into a crypto hub as a result of the establishment of some of the largest crypto enterprises in the world in Dubai; a commercial hub that is creating rules for the sector. Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, already has an industry regulation framework.