Komainu, a regulated cryptoasset custody services provider for institutions by institutions, today announced it closed a New $25 million round of funding.

The Series A round was led by Alan Howard of Elwood Asset Management, with additional participation from Galaxy Digital, NOIA Capital and Nomura Research Institute.

Digital assets are part of blockchain distributed ledger technology and can be cryptocurrencies such as coins, uniquely tradable digital items, tradable shares or securities. They can represent real-world objects and even secure documents or other real-world assets.

Komainu was created as a joint venture between the global investment bank Nomura Holdings Inc., digital asset security firm Ledger SAS – best known for its bitcoin hardware wallet – and digital asset investment house CoinShares.

Established in 2018, Komainu intended to fill a gap in the marketplace and provide institutions a regulated, secure and compliant custody service for investment in digital assets, which launched in June of 2020. The firm currently holds $3 billion in assets under custody for asset managers, financial institutions, corporations and government agencies.

Komainu’s name comes from the lion-dogs that guard the entrance to Chinese Shinto shrines. Each entrance is guarded by two meant to ward off evil spirits. The statues are generally identical but some statues have their mouths in different expressions, mouths open and closed, often pronouncing different Sanskrit letters, the beginning and end of the alphabet, signifying the beginning and end of all things. According to the company, this represents presence and security – two things custody brings to customers.

Custody is the basis of the safekeeping of traditional assets and digital assets need be treated no differently. Komainu’s goal is to bring the same levels of regulatory assurance to institutional entities and investors to digital assets as exist with traditional ones.

“Komainu will continue to build the future of digital asset custody, extending beyond simply the storage of assets, to a core strategic pillar of any investment management strategy,” said Komainu President Henson Orser.

Numerous examples of cryptoassets have existed over the years including cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, which is the largest blockchain with a market cap of over $1 trillion, and Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, which hosts many nonfungible tokens that can represent uniquely tradable assets.

Examples of these assets could be digital artwork that can be bought, sold and traded on digital marketplaces such as OpenSea, or using the Cargo blockchain, or as collectible cards in Coinbase Inc.-backed game “Gods Unchained” where a single virtual trading card sold for $31,000 in 2019.

The company intends to use the new funds to expand its custody solution to support additional assets and functionality. Komainu will continue to bridge the gap between legacy finance and the growing digital asset class, thus changing how technology-oriented custodianship integrates into institutional-grade brokerage services.

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