NEXBRIDGE and NEXPLACE have raised $8 million in a Series A funding round led by Fulgur Ventures to develop an integrated Bitcoin-native capital markets infrastructure. The funding will accelerate NEXBRIDGE's role as a regulated issuer of asset-backed digital assets and NEXPLACE's development as a next-generation trading platform, targeting a public launch in H2 2025.
The ecosystem aims to merge traditional capital market safeguards with Bitcoin's efficiency, enabling 24/7 access to regulated digital assets. NEXBRIDGE will use funds to launch new products like tokenized equities and multi-asset strategies, building on its November 2024 debut of USTBL—the first regulated digital asset backed by U.S. Treasury Bills issued via Bitcoin's Liquid Network. El Salvador's digital asset regulator (CNAD) has approved these expansions.
NEXPLACE will function as a unified trading venue for cryptocurrencies and asset-linked instruments, with planned features including tokenized asset collateralization. CEO Michele Crivelli emphasized the model's uniqueness: "Each token is directly regulated at the token level with public disclosures, not just a passive mirror of off-chain assets." Fulgur Ventures' Oleg Mikhalsky noted Bitcoin's evolving role as "a settlement layer for tokenized instruments," while Blockstream confirmed its Liquid Network powers the infrastructure.
The companies currently operate separately but plan consolidation under a single holding entity pending regulatory approvals.