Onramp, a bitcoin financial services firm, has successfully raised $12.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Early Riders. This investment values the company at $135 million as it aims to scale its custody model to meet rigorous institutional standards. The Austin-based firm, founded in 2023, informed Bitcoin Magazine that it currently manages over $1 billion in assets under custody and has maintained a flawless security record since its inception.
The new capital will facilitate the expansion of Onramp Finance, its recently launched platform that integrates bitcoin custody, brokerage services, and cash management. It will also fund new partnerships with banks, registered investment advisors, and fintech firms. Central to Onramp’s strategy is its Multi-Institution Custody (MIC) model, which decentralizes key control across multiple regulated custodians, thereby avoiding reliance on a single entity or placing full responsibility on clients. This system, developed with partners like BitGo, Coincover, and Tetra Trust, supports shared control structures that can operate across various jurisdictions.
This innovative approach addresses a long-standing dilemma in digital asset custody. Historically, investors have faced a choice between centralized platforms, which carry counterparty risk, and self-custody setups that demand significant technical expertise and operational oversight. Onramp presents its MIC model as a balanced solution, eliminating single points of failure while ensuring assets remain verifiable on-chain.
The company has already seen institutional adoption, with UK pension fund Cartwright selecting Onramp as the custodian for its bitcoin allocation. Furthermore, the Bitcoin Policy Institute has endorsed multi-party custody frameworks for potential state-level bitcoin reserves.
Chief executive Michael Tanguma stated that Onramp aims to build a comprehensive financial ecosystem around bitcoin, encompassing services such as lending, retirement accounts, and treasury management tools. In April, the firm launched Onramp Finance, providing brokerage services across all 50 U.S. states, cash accounts with rewards, a payments card, bitcoin IRAs, and access to gold, all within a single interface.
Liam Nelson, a partner at Early Riders, explained that their firm invested in Onramp to help establish MIC as an industry standard, asserting that custody design will significantly influence the next phase of bitcoin adoption. Onramp plans to allocate the new funding equally between product development and distribution. On the engineering front, Onramp will continue to enhance its platform and prepare its custody infrastructure for licensing to other regulated custodians. Commercially, the company will intensify its sales efforts and develop white-label offerings for financial institutions interested in integrating bitcoin services.
Onramp has also appointed David Thayer, a former Blackstone partner, as a strategic advisor. His expertise in infrastructure investing will support the company’s deeper engagement with traditional finance. The underlying premise is that as bitcoin becomes more prevalent in investment portfolios, custody will emerge as a critical concern. Onramp is strategically positioning its architecture as the foundational solution for this shift, intending to extend its model to institutions seeking bitcoin exposure without assuming concentrated risk.
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