Elliptic raises $120 million as Nasdaq and Deutsche Bank back crypto security push

Elliptic’s $120 million round says the quiet part out loud: crypto cannot keep scaling on trading apps and custody alone. Banks need cleaner data. They need sharper monitoring. And they need faster ways to spot dirty money before more digital assets move through their systems.

Elliptic raised the new funding from investors including Nasdaq Ventures and Deutsche Bank. My take: this is not a flashy crypto bet. It looks more like banks deciding compliance software belongs in the part of the budget that actually gets signed off.

According to Elliptic’s Tuesday press release, growth equity firm One Peak led the round. The deal values the London blockchain analytics company at $610 million. The British Business Bank also joined the raise.

The timing is not random. Crypto markets are still absorbing breach after breach across decentralized finance protocols and centralized platforms. According to the source material, hackers have stolen nearly $3 billion in crypto assets since the start of 2025 through smart contract exploits, phishing attacks, and bridge breaches.

Losses like that change the mood fast. I’ll be honest: security only sounds boring until the money is gone. Exchanges and banks are under more pressure to tighten anti-money laundering controls, while regulators want crypto platforms and financial institutions to get tougher on financial crime as more digital asset activity moves into regulated markets.

Compliance tools become institutional infrastructure

Crypto compliance infrastructure is the software, data, and monitoring work that helps banks, exchanges, and government agencies spot illicit blockchain activity and meet financial crime rules.

Elliptic tracks crypto transactions across dozens of blockchains. Its software flags wallets tied to sanctions, fraud, ransomware, and illicit finance. Banks and exchanges use those tools. Government agencies do too.

Elliptic says exchanges using its services handle two thirds of global crypto trading volume. That is a big footprint. It also explains why blockchain analytics firms now sit near the front door for institutions that want a clearer view of public blockchain activity before taking on more crypto exposure.

Demand has grown with stablecoins and tokenized assets. Elliptic says stablecoins processed roughly $33 trillion in transactions last year. Why does this matter? Because stablecoins are no longer a side alley of crypto; at that scale, they start looking like payments infrastructure that compliance teams cannot treat casually.

Large financial firms are also testing tokenized securities and blockchain settlement systems. Most guides frame this as a custody problem. That is only half right. Once that activity moves closer to traditional markets, compliance providers need to watch public blockchain activity in real time, because slow alerts do not help much when money moves in minutes.

Analysis: For investors and traders, this round points to a dull but important part of crypto’s next stage. Adoption is not only about venues or liquidity. It also depends on surveillance, sanctions screening, fraud detection, compliance work, and whether those systems can survive an audit.

AI reshapes the security race

AI crypto security means using artificial intelligence to spot suspicious wallet behavior, speed up compliance reviews, and respond to digital asset threats that are getting cheaper to run.

The funding comes as AI changes the economics of crypto attacks. Attackers can move faster and test more ideas for less money. Counter to the usual advice, “just hire more analysts” is not a serious answer here; the attack surface is moving too quickly.

Elliptic says it will use the new capital to expand its AI monitoring and risk analysis tools as institutions do more with digital assets. In plain English, the company wants AI to take on more of the repetitive work analysts still do by hand. Is that overhyped? Sometimes, yes. But in compliance queues with thousands of alerts, automation is not a luxury feature.

“One of the things that we will be accelerating with the funding is our agentic product roadmap,” CEO Simone Maini told CoinDesk. “What that means is building and launching agents that sit on top of Elliptic’s dataset to be able to automate a lot of what is otherwise highly manual, repetitive tasks performed by compliance analysts.”

“That means those that that those precious resources can be redeployed to deep diving and investigating financial crime where they need to,” she said.

Elliptic’s funding round fits a broader shift in digital assets. As crypto trading, stablecoin settlement, and tokenized securities grow, firms that can identify risky wallets and suspicious flows may matter almost as much as the exchanges and custodians. Boring? A little. Necessary? Probably.

Why it matters

Elliptic’s $120 million raise matters because large financial institutions are putting money into the compliance and security layer crypto needs before it can move much deeper into mainstream finance.

For crypto investors and traders, the takeaway is straightforward. Big institutions are still spending on the plumbing behind digital assets, even as security threats get worse. Yes, this sounds less exciting than a new token launch. That is the point. The next cycle may favor platforms that can grow without letting compliance checks slow everything down.

FAQ

How much did Elliptic raise?

Elliptic raised $120 million in new funding.

Who backed Elliptic’s funding round?

Nasdaq Ventures, Deutsche Bank, and the British Business Bank backed the round. According to Elliptic’s Tuesday press release, growth equity firm One Peak led it.

What is Elliptic’s valuation after the funding round?

According to Elliptic’s Tuesday press release, the round values the company at $610 million.

What does Elliptic do?

Elliptic provides blockchain analytics and crypto compliance software. Banks, exchanges, and government agencies use it to monitor transactions, identify risky wallets, and detect illicit finance activity.

Why is AI important to Elliptic’s strategy?

AI matters to Elliptic because it can take over some manual compliance work and improve risk analysis across large blockchain datasets. CEO Simone Maini told CoinDesk that Elliptic plans to speed up its agentic product roadmap.

Why does this funding matter for crypto markets?

The funding matters because it shows institutions still want crypto security, sanctions screening, fraud detection, and compliance tools as digital asset markets mature.