Waves Platform, a public blockchain network that has helped digital startups create tokens, said it raised $120 million for itself to roll out a private version of its Vostok system for corporations and governments.
Private investors were tapped in the fundraising round led by London-based financial services group Dolfin, Waves said in a statement Wednesday. The company's own cryptocurrency, known as Waves, jumped almost 50 percent to $3.80 in the past 24 hours, according to CoinmarketCap.com prices at 9:40 a.m. in London.
Founded in Switzerland by Russian engineer Sasha Ivanov, Waves Platform has benefited from a recent boom of initial coin offerings that let firms create and sell tokens via its distributed-ledger technology, which it describes as a fast and easy-to-use blockchain.
The Waves token has a market value of about $383 million, down from as much as $1.7 billion in December 2017, close to the speculative peak for cryptocurrencies, according to CoinMarketMap.com.
"The cryptocurrency rush is over now, while the idea of using a decentralized network to store data and cut costs is still relevant," Ivanov said in an interview in his Moscow office.
Large firms and state entities often find the speed and security level of public blockchains to be insufficient, he said. So-called private blockchains, which have limited numbers of users, protect data better, according to Ivanov.
Vostok, similar to the International Business Machines Corp.-led Hyperledger in the U.S., will focus on Europe, Asia and the former USSR, expecting its first projects in the beginning of 2019, Ivanov said.