HSBC has joined a $200 million funding round for ConsenSys that values the blockchain software engineering firm at $3.2 billion.
Marshall Wace, Third Point, ParaFi Capital, Think Investments, Dragonfly Capital, Electric Capital, Spartan Group, DeFiance Capital, Animoca Brands, and Coinbase Ventures joined the round.
ConsenSys has set itself the task of unlocking the "collaborative power of communities by making Web3 universally easy to use, access, and build on".
Its main way of doing this is its MetaMask app and browser extension that lets 21 million monthly active users hold and manage digital tokens, and connect with 3700 Web3 applications - including NFT marketplaces, play-to-earn games, decentralised autonomous organisations, DeFi applications, and metaverse worlds.
The latest funding will be used to support the expansion of MetaMask and ConsenSys' Infura blockchain development tool as well as to hire another 400 people.
Joseph Lubin, CEO, ConsenSys, says: "We are honored to partner with some of the top financial and strategic investors from both traditional and next generation economies to accelerate the realisation of Web3.
"As our technology crosses into the mainstream, we are already seeing the transformation of how larger and larger cohorts of builders, users, artists, and enterprises live and work."