Chainalysis will add Bitcoin to its balance sheet as price surges

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis plans to purchase an undisclosed amount of Bitcoin for the firm’s balance sheet through New York Digital Investment Group’s brokerage services.

In a Tuesday blog post, Chainalysis said it will expand its partnership with the New York Digital Investment Group, or NYDIG, to buy an undisclosed amount of Bitcoin (BTC), the price of which reached a five-month high of $63,293 earlier on Tuesday. The firm said the purchase was “guided by strong confidence in Bitcoin” in addition to the NYDIG’s expertise in the digital asset space.

“Chainalysis is laser-focused on its commitment to building trust in cryptocurrency as a digital asset, and we are thrilled to be adding Bitcoin to our corporate investment portfolio,” said Chainalysis co-founder and CEO Michael Gronager. “This is Chainalysis’ first acquisition of cryptocurrency, and we will continue to pursue other digital assets as potential future investments.”

Following a $100 million fundraising round in June, Chainalysis was valued at $4.2 billion. Data from the firm has often been used this year as ransomware hackers demanding payment in cryptocurrency stepped up their attacks. The company investigated Russia-based business Suex OTC, recently targeted by the United States Treasury Department and acquired cybercrime investigative firm Excygent earlier this month.

Related: Chainalysis has crypto’s ‘heightened momentum’ to thank for multibillion-dollar valuation

Chainalysis’ Bitcoin investment will follow purchases from companies including Tesla, Square, Voyager Digital, Galaxy Digital, and MicroStrategy. The business intelligence firm holds 114,042 BTC, worth more than $7 billion at the time of publication. Car manufacturer Tesla currently holds an estimated 43,200 BTC, or roughly $2.7 billion.