Share this article
Elliptic Raises $5 Million to Expand Bitcoin Surveillance Tools
Bitcoin surveillance startup Elliptic has raised $5m in Series A funding in a round that involved a private equity firm with US defense connections.
By Stan Higgins
Updated Sep 11, 2021, 12:11 p.m. Published Mar 21, 2016, 1:44 a.m.
Bitcoin surveillance startup Elliptic has raised $5m in Series A funding in a round that involved a private equity firm with strong US defense and intelligence connections.
Paladin Capital Group led the round, which also drew support from Santander InnoVentures, KRW Schindler, Digital Currency Group and Octopus Ventures, an existing investor in the firm.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Paladin counts former National Security Agency director and retired Lieutenant General Kenneth Minihan among its leadership. The firm, according to its website, invests primarily in companies focused on defense, cybersecurity and intelligence products and services.
Minihan indicated that Paladin would lobby for Elliptic’s blockchain intelligence tools to gain broader usage among US law enforcement agencies, remarking in a statement:
“We recognise that the firm’s monitoring capability will be an essential component of any blockchain in the future and we will help Elliptic to expand in the US, via our contacts and knowledge of US law enforcement and government agencies.”
UK-based Elliptic raised $2m in seed funding in 2014 after launching an insured bitcoin storage service in January of that year.
Elliptic co-founder and CEO Dr. James Smith said that the round will help support Elliptic's expansion plans.
“Our new investors bring deep expertise in law enforcement, international financial services, and blockchain technology and we are excited to work with them on our next phase of growth,” he said. “We have already been able to expand operations to the US and will continue to extend our portfolio of products.”
The funding comes as some global regulators, particularly in Europe, look to expand oversight of bitcoin transactions, particularly in connection with exchanges that trade digital currencies for government-issued currencies. In February, the European Commission said it wanted to undertake a process of "ending the anonymity associated with such exchanges".
Disclaimer: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in Elliptic.
Image via Shutterstock
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Axelar token falls 15% after Circle deal takes the developer team, leaves AXL behind
What to know:
- Circle is acquiring Interop Labs' team and intellectual property, excluding the AXL token and Axelar Network from the deal.
- Axelar's AXL token dropped 13% as the acquisition does not benefit tokenholders directly.
- The deal shows how crypto M&A focuses on teams and technology, not necessarily benefiting associated tokens.
