Report: BitGo raises $12 million in new investment

Many in the bitcoin development world have claimed that 2014 will be the “Year of Multi-Sig.” Until today, that seemed like little more than wishful thinking by security focused coders. With $12 million in new investment, multi-signature wallet provider BitGo can make the case it’s at least the month of multi-sig.

According to a report on CoinDesk, the security-as-a-service company received funds from several venture capitalists, well-known bitcoin investors and one “Hollywood A-lister.”

The funding round was led by VC firm Redpoint Ventures and it attracted Barry Silbert’s Bitcoin Opportunity Corporation, Radar Partners, Liberty City Ventures, Crypto Currency Partners and Ashton Kutcher’s A-Grade Investments.”

CoinDesk also spoke with BitGo CEO Will O’Brien, who explained the direction of BitGo’s development. “We’re putting together a company that Fortune 500 [firms] and the largest hedge funds can trust as their bitcoin security platform.”

It’s no surprise that multi-sig wallets would hold the most appeal for business and corporate clients. While a very small business may only have one person handling the finances, most companies have a system requiring multiple people to approve most transactions. Bitcoin’s default wallet system places a one-user bottleneck on this, while a multi-signature system can be expanded to allow many different people, or even automated systems, to approve a transaction. A highly developed multi-sig wallet could easily be presented as a more secure improvement upon traditional accounting and payment systems.

BitGo also gained two very high-profile board members as part of the deal: former VeriSign CEO Stratton Sclavos and Jeff Brody of Redpoint Ventures.