BlockBeats News, November 10: According to Fortune, Alta, a Layer 1 blockchain developer serving banks and large financial institutions, announced on Tuesday that it had raised $47.5 million in a Series A round, though it did not disclose its valuation. The round was led by Index Ventures, with participation from GV (Google Ventures), Blackbird Ventures, Square Peg, and Capital49. The company previously raised $32.5 million in a seed round, backed primarily by Australian fintech giant Airwallex. Airwallex is currently competing with companies such as Stripe in the global payments market.

Alta CEO Loong Wang previously founded a crypto startup, which he sold in 2021, before moving on to a second startup that used quantum computing to assist with drug development. Wang later returned to the crypto industry and co-founded Alta with former Meta executive Catherine Porter. The company recently changed its name from Metal. Porter had been involved in overseeing Meta’s crypto business, which the company later abandoned.

In an interview, Wang said that although there are already many so-called Layer 1 blockchains on the market, he had decided to develop a new blockchain because he believes blockchain is the best technology for transferring funds. He also noted that none of the existing blockchains offers a comprehensive set of privacy and compliance tools designed specifically for banks and other large financial institutions.