Digital Asset Holdings, the blockchain startup run by former JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker Blythe Masters, raised $52 million from investors and won a contract to radically speed up settlement in Australia’s stock market.
The deal with ASX Ltd., Australia’s main exchange operator, is the boldest attempt yet to prove the worth of a so-called distributed ledger system. ASX agreed to invest A$14.9 million ($10.5 million) into Digital Asset, joining other investors including JPMorgan, CME Group Inc. and ICAP Plc. The funding round was more than two times oversubscribed and values New York-based Digital Asset at $100 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
