Jump to content

BitGo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BitGo, Inc.
Company typePublic
Founded2011; 15 years ago (2011)
Founder
HeadquartersSioux Falls, South Dakota
Key people
Mike Belshe (CEO)
Services
  • Bitcoin
  • blockchain security platform APIs
  • custodial services
  • settlement services
RevenueIncrease US$3.080 billion (2024)
Increase US$156 million (2024)
Total assetsIncrease US$3.199 billion (Q2 2025)
Total equityIncrease US$343 million (Q2 2025)
OwnerMike Belshe (11 million shares)
Valor Equity Partners (12.5 million shares)
Redpoint Ventures (10.7 million shares)
Craft Ventures (7.5 million shares)
Websitewww.bitgo.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

BitGo, Inc. is a digital asset infrastructure and financial services company headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.[1]

BitGo secures approximately 20% of all on-chain Bitcoin transactions by value and is the largest independent digital asset custodian, with over $100 billion in digital assets on its platform.[2][1]

The company offers a multisignature bitcoin wallet service, where keys are divided among several owners to manage risk. Generally, BitGo wallets have three keys: one held by BitGo, and two held by the wallet's owner.[3][4] Wallets can be configured in both hot and cold configurations,[5] as well as non-custodial and custodial configurations.

BitGo serves as the sole custodian for bitcoin that people deposit to receive a tokenized form of that bitcoin known as Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) that can be exchanged on the Ethereum blockchain.[6] BitGo is the custodian for USD1, a stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, a company with ties to Donald Trump.[7] It is also the custodian for frxUSD, a fractional reserve stablecoin.[8]

As of June 30, 2025, the company owned approximately 2,300 Bitcoins for its own account; changes to the value of such Bitcoins are reported as income or loss on the company's financial statements.[1]

History

[edit]

BitGo was founded by Ben Davenport, Will O'Brien, and Mike Belshe. BitGo, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware in 2011 under the name "Whensoon, Inc.". The name was changed to "Twist and Shout, Inc." later in 2011. It was renamed "BitGo, Inc." in 2014.[1]

Early growth and development (2014–2017)

[edit]

In June 2014, the company raised $12 million in a Series A round led by Redpoint Ventures.[9] Shares were sold for $0.59 each.[1]

In February 2015, the company bought an insurance policy from XL Catlin against theft from its wallets.[10]

In December 2017, BitGo raised a $42.5 million Series B funding round led by Valor Equity Partners; its founder Antonio Gracias joined BitGo's board of directors.[11] David O. Sacks also invested both personally and through his venture capital firm, Craft Ventures.[12][13] Shares were sold in this round for $2.53 each.[1]

Custody expansion (2016–2018)

[edit]

In September 2018, BitGo was approved by the South Dakota Division of Banking to act as a qualified custodian for digital assets.[14]

In October 2018, the company raised $15 million in an addition to its Series B round from Goldman Sachs and Michael Novogratz's Galaxy Digital.[15] Shares were sold in this round for $3.54 each.[1]

Regulatory milestones (2020–present)

[edit]

In December 2020, BitGo agreed to pay $98,830 to the U.S. Department of the Treasury to settle its potential civil liability for 183 apparent violations of sanctions programs related to Ukraine, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria between 2015 and 2019.[16]

In March 2021, BitGo received a NY Trust Charter from the New York State Department of Financial Services.[17][18]

In May 2021, Galaxy Digital announced the planned acquisition of BitGo for $1.2 billion in cash and stock, marking the first $1 billion deal in the cryptocurrency industry.[19] In August 2022, Galaxy terminated the deal, alleging BitGo's inability to provide certain financial statements needed by Galaxy for its SEC filing. BitGo claimed that it had provided its audited financials and honored its obligations, and that it would legally seek the $100 million termination fee provided for in the documents.[20][21] In June 2023, the Delaware Chancery Court dismissed BitGo’s suit, saying Galaxy had a "valid basis" to terminate the deal.[22] On appeal, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Chancery.[23] The case was headed to trial as of late 2025.[24]

In June 2023, BitGo signed a letter of intent to acquire Prime Core Technologies, the Nevada-based parent company of digital asset custodian Prime Trust.[25] BitGo terminated the acquisition two weeks later, alleging that Prime Core did not have the finances to complete the deal.[26]

In August 2023, BitGo raised $100 million from new investors in Series C funding at a $1.75 billion valuation.[27] Shares were sold in this round at $16.05 each.[1]

In December 2024, the company launched a retail platform.[2]

In December 2025, BitGo received regulatory approval to become a bank.[28][7] The approval was opposed by the Bank Policy Institute, which claimed it would "significantly increase risks to the U.S. financial system" and "create an unlevel playing field that would harm traditional federal- and state-chartered banks".[29]

In January 2026, BitGo became the first cryptocurrency custodian to become a public company via an initial public offering; the company raised $212 million.[30][31]

On 22 January, BitGo hit a $2.59 billion valuation after its stock opened 24.6 per cent higher in their New York debut on Thursday.[32]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "BitGo, Inc. Form S-1". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  2. ^ a b "BitGo Launches Comprehensive Retail Platform" (Press release). Business Wire. December 2, 2024.
  3. ^ Casey, Michael J. (June 16, 2014). "Bitcoin Security Startup BitGo Gets More Funds; Ex-Verisign CEO Joins Team". The Wall Street Journal.
  4. ^ Cutler, Kim-Mai (June 16, 2014). "BitGo Raises $12M Led By Redpoint For Multi-Signature Bitcoin Wallets, Services". TechCrunch.
  5. ^ Kharif, Olga (February 19, 2019). "Crypto Startup Offers Insurance Against Quadriga Wallet Dilemma". Bloomberg News.
  6. ^ Kharif, Olga (October 29, 2020). "Bitcoin Rally Gets Added Boost From 'Wrapped' Crypto Tokens". Bloomberg News.
  7. ^ a b Reiter, Aiden (January 7, 2026). "Trump-linked crypto company applies for federal banking charter". Politico.
  8. ^ "ATW Partners Agrees To Invest $50 Million in Frax's frxUSD Stablecoin, Custodied by BitGo". PR Newswire. January 14, 2026.
  9. ^ Kerr, Dara (June 16, 2014). "Bitcoin security platform BitGo raises $12M in funding". CNET.
  10. ^ Casey, Michael J.; Vigna, Paul (February 25, 2015). "BitBeat: BitGo Adds Comprehensive Insurance to Its Services". The Wall Street Journal.
  11. ^ Chaparro, Frank (December 11, 2017). "A blockchain tech company raised $42.5 million in 2 weeks — in 'one of the easiest fundraising processes ever'". Business Insider – via Yahoo Finance.
  12. ^ "Silicon Valley's Man in the White House Is Benefiting Himself and His Friends". The New York Times. November 30, 2025.
  13. ^ MacColl, Margaux (December 2, 2025). "What AI conflicts? Silicon Valley elites say David Sacks is just doing his job". The San Francisco Standard.
  14. ^ Rooney, Kate (September 13, 2018). "Companies race to solve bitcoin's security problem despite slumping prices". CNBC.
  15. ^ Katz, Lily (June 11, 2019). "Goldman Wades Deeper in Crypto, Betting on BitGo With Billionaire Mike Novogratz". Bloomberg News.
  16. ^ "Settlement Agreement between the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control and BitGo, Inc" (Press release). U.S. Department of the Treasury. December 30, 2020.
  17. ^ "BitGo Receives NY Trust Charter from the New York State Department of Financial Services" (Press release). Business Wire. March 4, 2021.
  18. ^ Lennon, Hailey (March 8, 2021). "BitGo's Newest Charter Deepens Its Regulatory Arsenal". Forbes.
  19. ^ Vigna, Paul (May 5, 2021). "Galaxy Digital to Buy BitGo in Crypto Sector's First $1 Billion Deal". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660.
  20. ^ Yang, Yueqi (August 15, 2020). "Novogratz's Spurned Takeover Target Seeks Termination Fee". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022.
  21. ^ Miller, Rosemarie (September 19, 2022). "BitGo Bites Back, Says Galaxy Unfairly Tanked $1.2 Billion Takeover It Found 'Unpalatable'". Forbes.
  22. ^ Yang, Yueqi (June 12, 2023). "Novogratz Firm Galaxy Wins Dismissal of BitGo Suit Over M&A Termination Fee". Bloomberg News.
  23. ^ "BitGo Holdings, Inc. v. Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd., et al" – via Justia.
  24. ^ Kay, Jennifer (September 22, 2025). "This Week in Chancery Court: BitGo, Galaxy, More Jenzabar Claims". Bloomberg Law.
  25. ^ Ostroff, Caitlin; Huang, Vicky Ge (June 8, 2023). "BitGo to Acquire Rival Crypto Custodian Prime Trust". The Wall Street Journal.
  26. ^ Schwartz, Leo (June 22, 2023). "It's 'going to be a struggle' for customers of Binance-linked Prime Trust after BitGo terminates acquisition plan". Fortune.
  27. ^ Miller, Hannah (August 16, 2023). "BitGo Bucks Crypto Downturn to Raise Funding at $1.75 Billion Valuation". Bloomberg News.
  28. ^ Ge Huang, Vicky (December 12, 2025). "BitGo Secures Regulatory Approval to Become a Bank". The Wall Street Journal.
  29. ^ "BPI Opposes OCC's Proposed Approval of BitGo Trust Company's Conversion to a National Trust Bank" (Press release). Bank Policy Institute. November 7, 2025.
  30. ^ Di Salvo, Mathew (January 22, 2026). "BitGo kicks off 2026 IPO race as crypto custodian raises $213m" – via Yahoo.
  31. ^ Lang, Vicky Ge Huang and Hannah Erin (January 22, 2026). "BitGo Pops 25% in NYSE Debut, a Sign Crypto IPO Fever Is Back". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 28, 2026.
  32. ^ "BitGo debuts with $2.59 billion valuation as crypto IPO window reopens (Jan 22)". CNA. Retrieved January 28, 2026.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BitGo&oldid=1335373977"