[FINANCIAL] Digital Assets ·
Crypto Market Making · Financial Infrastructure —
March 31, 2026 — Series C COMPLETED
Keyrock Hits $1.1B Unicorn Status —
Standard Chartered's SC Ventures Leads Series C for Brussels's Digital Asset
Market Maker
Institutional finance fully embraces digital asset
infrastructure: Brussels-based Keyrock — Europe's leading digital asset market
making and trading services firm — secures a rolling Series C funding round led
by SC Ventures (the venture arm of Standard Chartered Bank) and Ripple, valuing
the company at $1.1 billion and quadrupling its valuation in a single round, as
the tokenized finance era drives surging demand for sophisticated liquidity
infrastructure.
DEAL SNAPSHOT
|
ROUND AMOUNT Up to $100 Million —
Series C (rolling close, open until Jun 2026) |
COMPLETED March 31, 2026 (rolling
close open until June 2026) |
|
POST-MONEY VALUATION $1.1 Billion — Unicorn
(4x valuation increase from prior round) |
EXCHANGES COVERED >80 centralized and
decentralized trading venues |
|
LEAD INVESTOR SC Ventures (Standard
Chartered Bank venture arm) |
EMPLOYEES >200 globally across
Brussels, London, Geneva, Singapore |
THE PARTIES
|
LEAD INVESTOR SC Ventures (Standard
Chartered Bank) + Ripple SC Ventures
(London): the venture building and investment arm of Standard Chartered — one
of the world's leading international banking groups, with a presence in 54
markets and listed on both London and Hong Kong exchanges. CEO Alex Manson.
SC Ventures focuses on digital asset ventures, fintech infrastructure, and
emerging market financial services. Ripple (San Francisco): blockchain-based
enterprise financial infrastructure provider (XRP Ledger); prior existing
investor in Keyrock. The standard chartered institutional backing is a major
milestone for Keyrock — it represents one of the largest traditional banking
groups formally backing a crypto-native liquidity provider. |
COMPANY / RECIPIENT Keyrock SA Brussels,
Belgium-based digital asset services and neo-investment group. CEO Kevin de
Patoul. Co-founders: Juan David Mendieta Villegas, Kevin De Patoul, Jeremy De
Groodt. Founded 2017. Services: (1) Market Making — providing liquidity
across 80+ centralized and decentralized exchanges for digital asset issuers
and project teams; (2) OTC Trading — large block execution for institutional
digital asset trades; (3) Options Trading — structured derivatives for
digital assets; (4) Asset & Wealth Management — launched in 2025 after
acquiring Turing Capital (Luxembourg-registered AIFM), serving institutional
clients and private investors. 200+ employees. Operates as a bridge for
traditional financial firms entering the tokenized economy. |
DEAL OVERVIEW
Keyrock announced
the closing of its Series C funding round led by SC Ventures on March 31, 2026,
with existing investor Ripple also participating. The round values Keyrock at
$1.1 billion — a 4x increase from the company's prior valuation — crowning it as
a unicorn and cementing its position as Europe's most valuable digital asset
market making firm. The round is structured as a rolling close, with Keyrock
leaving the fundraise open through June 2026 and indicating it could total up
to $100 million with additional investors joining.
The capital will
be used across three priorities: (1) balance sheet strengthening — enabling
Keyrock to provide deeper liquidity to its clients by deploying more
proprietary capital as market maker across its 80+ trading venues; (2) service
innovation — expanding the firm's options desk, structured products, and
tokenized asset market making capabilities; (3) M&A — pursuing acquisitions
of complementary digital asset businesses (no specific targets disclosed). The
SC Ventures investment is particularly significant: Standard Chartered's
institutional imprimatur provides Keyrock with access to a global network of
traditional financial institution clients seeking to enter the tokenized
economy.
"Our latest funding round is a signal of intent for the future.
In 2026, we're pushing for more growth in our services, client base, and
geographic reach, as we look to gain greater market share and reinforce our
position as a leading player."
— Kevin de
Patoul, CEO, Keyrock
THE TOKENIZATION WAVE: WHY THIS MOMENT IS
DIFFERENT
Digital asset
market making has historically been viewed as a niche, speculative business
serving retail-oriented cryptocurrency exchanges. The 2026 thesis is
structurally different: the growth of real-world asset tokenization (tokenizing
bonds, equities, real estate, commodities, and private credit on blockchain
rails) is creating demand for institutional-grade liquidity provision from
entities that understand both traditional financial market structure and
blockchain-native settlement. Keyrock sits at exactly this intersection — it
has built the algorithmic trading and liquidity management infrastructure
required for digital asset markets, while increasingly serving traditional
financial firms (including Standard Chartered's own digital asset ventures) that
need sophisticated market making for their tokenized products.
INVESTORS
Lead
(Series C): SC Ventures (Standard
Chartered Bank venture arm)
Existing
Investor (participating): Ripple
Prior
Investors (Series A/B): SIX Group +
Volta Ventures + MiddleGame Ventures + others
2025
Acquisition: Turing Capital
(Luxembourg AIFM) — launched Keyrock Asset & Wealth Management