Bitcoin technology and financial services firm NYDIG Execution LLC said today it has raised $200 million in new growth funding to help it fund business initiatives relating to bitcoin.

The growth capital round was led by Stone Ridge Holdings Group, Morgan Stanley, New York Life, MassMutual, Soros Fund Management and FS Investments and included Bessemer Venture Partners and FinTech Collective.

“The firms participating in this round are more than investors – they are partners, each well-known to us for years,” Robert Gutmann, co-founder and chief executive officer of NYDIG, said in a statement. “NYDIG will be working with these firms on bitcoin-related strategic initiatives spanning investment management, insurance, banking, clean energy and philanthropy.

Founded in 2017, NYDIG offers a range of financial services dedicated to bitcoin including asset management, derivatives, financing, custody and execution services. The company’s platform is designed to satisfy the highest regulatory, audit and governance standards with a focus on providing solutions to insurers, banks, corporations, institutions and high net worth individuals.

Along with the funding, NYDIG also announced that life, annuity and property and casualty insurers now own, in aggregate, more than $1 billion of direct and indirect bitcoin exposure facilitated exclusively by NYDIG.

While perhaps not that well-known in the broader cryptocurrency space, NYDIG started to gain serious media attention in December when it helped the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. purchase $100 million in bitcoin. MassMutual took a $5 million stake in NYDIG at the time and has returned with an additional investment in the company with this round.

As noted by Investopedia at the time, MassMutual’s decision to invest in bitcoin is a special case particularly given that the company is considered to be a conservative investor that makes investments only in tried-and-tested financial products or those that are investment-grade. Moreover, the fact that MassMutual would invest in bitcoin could encourage other companies to do so as well.

Bitcoin itself continues on its rollercoaster ride and is yet to reach the record high of $58,012 it hit Feb. 21. That said, the overall market sentiment for the cryptocurrency is positive, its price up almost 6% in the last 24 hours, to $53,570.

Image: NYDIG