TL;DR
- Symbiont closes a \$7 million funding round, reaching a \$70 million valuation
- The platform enables programmable smart securities issued directly on the blockchain
- Founded by former Counterparty and Medici (t0) members in March 2015
- Previous seed investors include ex-CEO of the New York Stock Exchange and former co-CEO of Citadel Derivatives
- Settlement times could shrink from days to just 10 minutes using blockchain technology
The blockchain industry starts 2016 with another strong signal that Wall Street is paying attention. Symbiont, a smart securities trading platform built on blockchain technology, has closed a \$7 million funding round that values the company at approximately \$70 million, according to sources close to the deal.
The round represents one of the larger investments in the blockchain-for-finance space at a time when venture capital is flowing aggressively into cryptocurrency infrastructure. According to Bitcoin Magazine, co-founder Evan Wagner declined to formally comment but indicated the company would make an official announcement in the near future.
From Counterparty to Smart Securities
Symbiont traces its origins to the Counterparty project, one of the earliest Bitcoin 2.0 platforms that enabled financial applications to run on top of the Bitcoin blockchain. The company was founded in March 2015 when Robby Demody, Evan Wagner, and Adam Krellenstein from Counterparty joined forces with Mark Smith of Money f(x).
The team also carries DNA from Medici, the blockchain initiative that is now publicly known as t0, a subsidiary of Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK). This lineage places Symbiont squarely at the intersection of cryptocurrency innovation and traditional finance infrastructure.
According to the company, Symbiont is building “the first issuance and trading platform for smart securities on blockchain technology.” But what exactly are smart securities?
How Smart Securities Work
Smart securities are essentially programmable versions of traditional financial instruments. Using smart contracts, these securities can be coded with specific rules that execute automatically without manual interference from any individual or trusted party.
Consider a corporate bond as an example. The bond is coded with its face amount and maturity date. When the security is issued, it communicates with an atomic clock and automatically makes coupon payments to bondholders across the blockchain when the deadline arrives. Friction in clearing and settlement is dramatically reduced — settlement could be completed in as little as T+10 minutes — and errors and counterparty risks are effectively eliminated.
This represents a fundamental shift from the traditional securities settlement process, which typically takes T+2 or T+3 days and involves multiple intermediaries.
High-Profile Early Backers
Prior to this \$7 million round, Symbiont had already secured a \$1.25 million seed round from investors with serious Wall Street credentials. The seed backers include Matt Andresen, former co-CEO of Citadel Derivatives Group, and Duncan Niederauer, the former CEO of the New York Stock Exchange.
The involvement of figures with such deep roots in traditional finance underscores a growing trend: established financial industry leaders are not just observing blockchain technology — they are actively investing in it.
William Mougayar, a Toronto-based investor and General Partner at Virtual Capital Ventures, offered a measured perspective on the funding. “It is good to see more venture capital flow into the Capital Markets segment, which represents a good opportunity for blockchain solutions,” he said. “But let us not regard any amount raised as a sign of success. We should be more focused on celebrating and understanding the state of deployment, usage, adoption and innovation with actual customers.”
Bitcoin Market Context
As Symbiont announces its funding, Bitcoin trades at approximately \$435, with the total market capitalization hovering around \$6.5 billion. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, trades at roughly \$1.14 with a market capitalization of approximately \$87 million. The broader cryptocurrency market remains a fraction of its future size, but the pace of institutional interest is clearly accelerating.
The blockchain-for-enterprise space is heating up rapidly. With the total venture capital invested in the Bitcoin and blockchain ecosystem exceeding \$1 billion by the end of 2015 — approximately \$491 million of which came during that year alone — companies like Symbiont are well-positioned to capitalize on Wall Street growing appetite for distributed ledger technology.
Why This Matters
Symbiont \$7 million raise is not just about one company securing funding. It represents a broader validation of blockchain technology as a viable infrastructure layer for traditional financial markets. When former executives from the New York Stock Exchange and Citadel are investing personal capital into blockchain startups, the message is clear: the smart money believes distributed ledgers will reshape how securities are issued, traded, and settled. The question is no longer whether blockchain will impact Wall Street, but how quickly.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile, and readers should conduct their own research before making any investment decisions.