BlockFi Logo

BlockFi was founded in August 2017 in Jersey City, New Jersey, by Zac Prince and Flori Marquez. Prince came from consumer lending, while Marquez, the daughter of Argentine immigrants, had worked in traditional finance. They focused on a gap in the market: crypto holders kept Bitcoin and Ethereum in wallets without yield. At the same time, banks did not accept these assets as collateral.

In January 2018, BlockFi launched crypto-backed loans for U.S. residents. A month later, it raised $1.55 million in seed funding from ConsenSys Ventures, SoFi, and Kenetic Capital. In spring 2019, the company introduced BlockFi Interest Account, allowing users to earn interest on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins, with rates at times reaching 8.6% for stablecoins and 6% for Bitcoin.

Growth accelerated in 2020, when the client base rose tenfold. In August 2020, BlockFi raised $50 million at a $450 million valuation. In March 2021, a $350 million Series D round valued the company at $3 billion, with Bain Capital Ventures and Tiger Global Management among the investors. By then, BlockFi managed over $10 billion in assets, served more than one million verified users in over 100 countries, opened institutional offices in London and Singapore, and launched a Bitcoin rewards credit card.

In 2022, pressure came from regulators and market failures. In February, the SEC and more than 30 state regulators ordered BlockFi to pay $100 million over its interest accounts. After losses tied to Three Arrows Capital, Celsius Network’s bankruptcy, and heavy withdrawals, FTX offered a $400 million credit line in July. When FTX collapsed on November 11, BlockFi lost its primary source of liquidity. On November 28, 2022, it filed for Chapter 11 in New Jersey, listing over 100,000 creditors and assets and liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion.