Coinbase attains ‘Unicorn’ status with $100M fresh funds

Cryptocurrency has found its first unicorn.

On Thursday, bitcoin start-up Coinbase announced that it has succeeded in raising $100 million in a new round of funding at a private valuation of $1.6 billion.

The Series D funding round was led by venture capital firm Institutional Venture Partners, and was joined by Spark Capital, Greylock Partners, Battery Ventures, Section 32 and Draper Associates.

The “unicorn” status is an honorific given to privately owned start-up companies with over $1 billion valuation. In June, reports surfaced that the San Francisco-based digital currency exchange was talking to investors to raise $100 million in what was poised to be the biggest fundraising round ever for a bitcoin company.