CoolBitX, a crypto wallet and security startup, announced on Tuesday that it closed its Series B funding round after raising $16.75 million.

The round was led by Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings along with participation from the National Development Fund of Taiwan, Korean crypto exchange BitSonic, and Japanese financial group Monex.

With the fresh proceeds, the Taiwanese firm has laid down its strategies for the year and will expand its the Sygna product line’s presence beyond the APAC region as the first-to-market FATF-compliant solution for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) around the world.

Sygna is a compliance-oriented product line of the blockchain startup that provides crypto-based service providers ways to follow the regulatory standards and frameworks of the traditional financing industry.

“We are thrilled and encouraged by the support that we have received from our wider community of investors and partners on our journey,” Michael Ou, CEO of CoolBitX, commented on the development. “Through Sygna and CoolWallet S, we’re proud to develop the tools and infrastructure necessary to bridge the gap between the mainstream market and crypto industry. This latest funding round is a testament to our vision to help the industry mature and foster the mass adoption of virtual assets.”

Rising demand for KYC/AML products

Although it entered the market with a hardware wallet, CoolBitX saw a gap in meeting the compliance needs for crypto services providers and launched Sygna last October. Per the press release, it has partnered with over ten exchanges, including SBI VC Trade, Coincheck, Bitbank, and BitSonic.

The startup will also establish a compliance-focused entity in Japan, boosting its ties with the local authorities.

“Sygna’s progress has been in line with the strides made in crypto KYC/AML in various Asian jurisdictions, especially Japan. As such, CoolBitX will be establishing a Sygna entity in Japan this year as we are committed to having open dialogues with local stakeholders,” Ou added.

“As one of the early investors in CoolBitX, SBI Holdings is happy to see the breakthroughs made by the CooBitX team to drive cryptocurrency adoption forward…The borderless nature of digital assets requires a solution that isn’t bound by geographical boundaries and we are proud to partner with CoolBitX on their journey to bring a secure and easy-to-implement system to the world,” Yoshitaka Kitao, president and CEO of SBI Holdings, said.