Wells Fargo Joins Elliptic's Series B Investment Round

Published at: Feb. 13, 2020

Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, the venture arm of the fourth-largest bank in the U.S., is contributing $5 million to Elliptic’s Series B funding round. According to a Feb. 13 press release, the investment will help the company build products for large financial institutions.

The latest investment brings Elliptic’s Series B raise to more than $28 million. Previous investors include Japan’s SBI Group and Santander InnoVentures, an investment branch of the Spanish bank. 

The additional resources will be used to fuel Elliptic’s expansion in Asia. Additionally, the company hopes to accelerate development of Elliptic Discovery, a compliance solution for banks.

The system is designed to let banks correctly identify high-risk customers who transact with cryptocurrency exchanges. It will feature detailed profiles for more than 200 exchanges, providing more granular data on the level of regulatory compliance for each. This could help prevent indiscriminate countermeasures raised even against legitimate exchanges.

Global focus on money laundering

The past year has seen many governments around the globe made significant moves to fight money laundering.

In June, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a global regulatory framework that included directives for crypto assets. It focused on their assumed money laundering risk, mandating heightened identity checks — among other things.

The European Union proposed in 2019 and enacted in 2020 its fifth evolution of the Anti Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD). The regulations stipulate that all member countries must enforce compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) procedures, which include clear identification and an activity questionnaire. The directive explicitly called out cryptocurrency service providers.

In the U.S., the head of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) noted that exchanges and stablecoin providers must adhere to AML regulation.

Cointelegraph requested additional commentary from Elliptic, but did not receive an immediate response.

Tags
Regulation
Business
Banks
Aml
Kyc
Elliptic
Wells Fargo
Related Posts
South Korea’s crypto regulation is now expanding to foreign businesses
Due to their anonymity or pseudonymity, digital assets are perceived as entailing the risks of money laundering and financing terrorism. In October 2018, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) adopted changes to its recommendations on financial activities involving digital assets, adding the definitions “virtual asset” (VA) and “virtual asset service provider” (VASP). Since then, the FATF has adopted a risk-based approach to VA activities or operations and VASPs. This new approach includes the supervision of VASPs to ensure compliance in the areas of licensing and registration and preventive measures such as customer due diligence, transaction reporting and record-keeping. It also …
Regulation / Aug. 13, 2021
FinCEN director warns banks about cryptocurrency risk exposure
The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) director Kenneth Blanco has warned banks to think seriously about their cryptocurrency risk exposure. During the virtual 2020 ACAMS anti-money laundering Conference in Las Vegas this week, Blanco discussed the obligations of banks in implementing effective anti-money laundering (AML) policies. Current FinCEN regulations (FIN-2019-A003) state that it is the responsibility of all financial institutions to identify and report suspicious activity concerning how criminals and other bad actors exploit card verification checks for money laundering, sanctions evasion, and other illicit financing purposes. For many banks, it is still unclear how virtual currencies affect their …
Regulation / Sept. 30, 2020
3 Common Compliance and Regulatory Pitfalls to Watch for in 2020
Regulations are not going anywhere. On the contrary, financial service providers face more regulatory challenges and higher costs than ever before. During the early days of cryptocurrencies, a “Wild West” culture emerged when regulators, uncertain on how to tackle this thing called blockchain, paid little attention to the thefts, scams and hacks plaguing the virtual-asset market. Today, this is no longer the case. No matter their roots, every virtual asset project from Telegram to Shapeshift to Libra is ramping up compliance while regulators continue to issue guidance, enforce regulations and pay closer attention to digital securities platforms, crypto exchanges and …
Technology / May 30, 2020
Mergers and acquisitions are rising, leaving crypto assessments in question
Fintech, cryptocurrency and mergers and acquisitions are poised to intersect significantly in the coming year. M&A activity is expected to rebound quickly — more than 60% of decision-makers at large companies who were surveyed by FTI Consulting for a February report agree that their company has recently been a target of aggressive M&A, and 39% say their companies are looking at M&A as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the cryptocurrency market is making strides toward mainstream acceptance. As a result, there’s likely to be an uplift in deals involving cryptocurrency assets and valuations throughout 2021. …
Technology / April 17, 2021
Are non-KYC crypto exchanges as safe as their KYC-compliant peers?
Many see implementing Know Your Customer (KYC) tools in crypto as a deterrent to the Bitcoin (BTC) Standard, which has predominantly promoted anonymized peer-to-peer transactions. However, regulators stay put on promoting KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) implementations as a means to ensure investors’ safety and protection against financial fraud. While most crypto exchanges have begun implementing regulatory recommendations to remain at the forefront of crypto’s mainstream adoption, investors still have the choice to opt for crypto exchanges that promote greater anonymity by not imposing KYC processes. But does opting for the latter as an investor mean compromising on safety? A …
Adoption / Aug. 20, 2022