A former key executive at the United States Department of Treasury, Sigal Mandelker has joined Chainalysis. She will be working as an advisor in the firm. Chainalysis is a major cryptocurrency investigation firm.
The official announcement was made on July 7. Mandelker has joined the board of advisors in Chainalysis. This participation has also increased the Series B funding round of the firm to $49 million.
Mandelker’s Blockchain Experience
Mandelker left Trump’s White House in October 2019. Chainalysis will be her first public sector work since she has left her position as a treasury executive in the States. She will meet Chainalysis team to give insights on crypto crimes and its investigation.
Chainalysis works on cryptoanalysis and provides transaction data to major federal agencies like FBI and Internal Revenue Service. According to Mandelker, law enforcement will play a crucial role in the future of the industry.
Mandelker’s Achievements
She has been a part of some major investigations in the United States including three hacker groups of North Korea. These groups were involved to rob billions of dollars in cryptocurrency. Mandelker was also a part of the investigation on an illicit digital currency platform “E-Gold” in 2008.
The CEO and co-founder of Chainalysis, Michael Gronagar said that Mandelker’s contribution to the cryptocurrency sector will help it evolve further. Sigal has a wealth of knowledge and it will be leveraged by the firm.
Chainalysis Is Expanding To $49 Million After Raising $36 Million In The Beginning
After joining hands with Mandelker, Chainalysis has entered into the Series B of $49 million after hitting the first investment of $36 million in February 2019. Major capital giants including Accel have invested in the startup.
Chainalysis also raised $13 million from a venture capital firm Ribbit Capital. This venture capital has also invested in major crypto startups including Robinhood, Coinbase and more.
According to a report, Sigal also joined Ribbit Capital in early 2020 as a general partner. Apart from the other fundraising, Chainalysis is also able to raise an additional fund from Sound Ventures.
This venture capital firm is founded by actor Guy Oseary and Ashton Kutcher. Sound Ventures has also invested in a Bitcoin rewards company called Lolli in May 2020.
This is not the first time when a regulator has joined a private cryptocurrency firm. Along with Mandelker, there are some examples of this trend. For example, Juan Zarate joined Coinbase as an advisory board member, Ben Lawsky joined Stone Ridge Asset Management LLC, and Chris Giancarlo joined Ripple.