Cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network has raised $400 million in a new equity funding circular amid United States regulators increasingly keen down on crypto lending.

Announcing the news on Tuesday, Celsius noted that the latest funding was led by Canada's 2d-largest pension fund, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), and WestCap, an equity firm established by former Airbnb executive Laurence Tosi.

The firm intends to use the proceeds from this investment to keep expanding its offering and products, focusing on institutional grade products. Celsius also expects to double its team from 486 employees to about 1,000 and expand globally through strategic acquisitions.

Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky expressed promise that the new fundraising would help the industry reassure regulators well-nigh the stability of his crypto lending business organization and expand information technology across mainstream financial markets. "Information technology's not $400 meg. It'southward the brownie that comes with the people who wrote those checks," he said in an interview with the Fiscal Times on Tuesday.

"With more than $25 billion in assets and over $850 million in yield paid to over ane.one million users Celsius has distributed 10x more yield for the crypto community than whatever other lender," Mashinsky told Cointelegraph.

The new funding round values Celsius over $3 billion, marker a massive increase from a $ten meg equity funding round last year, which brought Celsius' mail service-money valuation to $150 meg. Blockchain fund Blastoff Sigma Uppercase previously evaluated Celsius' valuation in March, calculating that the firm had an unsaid value of $3.13 billion, or three times bigger than its market capitalization at the time.

Founded in 2022 in London, Celsius Network is a significant crypto lending platform, assuasive users to earn involvement on property digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC). The company has emerged as i of the biggest players in decentralized finance, reporting digital asset holdings of more than than $twenty billion in late August.

Initially operating in the United Kingdom, Celsius officially appear in June that the company will exist moving its headquarters from the U.G. to the Usa and "where applicative, to several other jurisdictions."

Related: Following SEC observe, Coinbase abandons programme for crypto lending program

The crypto lending business firm after faced several warnings from several U.S. regulators, with the Texas State Securities Lath and New Bailiwick of jersey Bureau of Securities arguing in September that Celcius had allegedly violated local securities laws. Other U.Due south. states including Kentucky and Alabama reportedly issued similar warnings too, while Celsius said it was providing services in full compliance with U.S. laws.

Celsius's bug with U.S. regulators come amongst a broader crackdown on crypto lending in the country. In July, the New Jersey Bureau of Securities issued a stop and desist order to major crypto lender BlockFi, triggering a wave of like orders in several other states. Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the Us, had to abandon its crypto lending product Lend after the Securities and Exchange Commission threatened the firm with legal action.