Glassnode Spinout Cense Raises €6.5 Million Seed Round to Transform Crypto Compliance for Banks
G+D Ventures and Rabo Investments have co-led a €6.5 million seed round in Cense, the crypto compliance and evidence platform for financial institutions and a 2023 spinout of Glassnode. The round was joined by a group of angel investors and will support the continued European expansion of the Cense platform. This is a notable moment for Glassnode. Cense is the first venture to be spun out of the company. The decision reflected a clear conviction: one of the largest unmet needs in digital asset markets is the operational gap between crypto-native activity and the traditional banking system. That problem required a dedicated company, led by the same founders and powered by the same on-chain analytics foundations that Glassnode has spent years developing. “When we founded Glassnode, our mission was to make on-chain data understandable and useful for anyone serious about digital asset markets. Cense extends that mission into the regulated banking layer, applying the same analytical rigor to one of the most consequential workflows in finance. Spinning Cense out as an independent company was the right way to give that mission the focus and pace it deserves, and this funding round confirms that the market sees the opportunity as clearly as we do,” says Jan Happel, co-founder and CEO of Glassnode. The funding comes at a structural inflection point for digital assets. Capital is increasingly moving between crypto and traditional finance, whether through long-held positions being realized, stablecoin liquidity moving across venues, or institutional allocators repositioning at scale. Banks are now being asked to engage with clients and transactions that their existing infrastructure was not designed to assess. The operational layer that connects on-chain activity to bank-grade compliance documentation has become one of the clearest unmet needs in the market. The Cense platform addresses this gap. By collecting and analyzing wallet, exchange and transaction data, it automates crypto compliance due diligence and produces standardized, auditable documentation that banks can act on. Conventional AML systems were not built for digital assets, while pure crypto analytics platforms often fail to reflect the regulatory and decision-making realities of financial institutions. Cense bridges that gap by translating complex on-chain activity into structured, bank-usable evidence. “What stands out most is the team behind Cense: the founders have already built two successful companies, including Glassnode, and are early pioneers in the space. They combine strong product expertise with proven entrepreneurial experience. The market opportunity is equally compelling, driven by accelerating institutional adoption of digital assets and an increasingly complex regulatory environment that demands precisely such solutions,” says Andreas Barthelmes, Principal at G+D Ventures. “Banks need trusted infrastructure to manage digital asset exposure with the same confidence they apply to financial crime and compliance,” says Dennis Wohlfarth, CEO of Cense. “This investment validates Cense’s position as that infrastructure layer. G+D Ventures and Rabo Investments bring deep expertise, strong banking networks and operational experience, giving us a strong foundation for the continued expansion of Cense.” “What I find compelling about Cense is that the team understands both the complexity of digital assets and the operational realities of financial institutions. That combination is rare, and it is exactly what is needed when building infrastructure for banks,” says Sander ten Hagen, Investor at Cense. Pascal Deck, Investor at Rabo Investments, adds: “Cense addresses a critical blind spot in crypto compliance by combining on-chain and off-chain insights, enabling institutions to onboard clients with greater speed, confidence and regulatory clarity, positioning it as a key enabler for scaling into digital assets. As more investors incorporate crypto into their portfolios, solutions like Cense are essential to turn a traditionally complex onboarding process into a seamless and scalable experience.” With the new funding, Cense will accelerate the technological development of its platform and expand its market presence across Europe. About Cense Cense is a Swiss crypto intelligence specialist, founded in 2023 as a spinout of Glassnode. The Cense platform helps banks and financial institutions gain visibility into customers’ digital asset activity and provides the infrastructure to assess, document, and manage that activity at scale while meeting increasing regulatory requirements.
Glassnode Spinout Cense Raises €6.5 Million Seed Round to Transform Crypto Compliance for Banks
G+D Ventures and Rabo Investments have co-led a €6.5 million seed round in Cense, the crypto compliance and evidence platform for financial institutions and a 2023 spinout of Glassnode. The round was joined by a group of angel investors and will support the continued European expansion of the Cense platform. This is a notable moment for Glassnode. Cense is the first venture to be spun out of the company. The decision reflected a clear conviction: one of the largest unmet needs in digital asset markets is the operational gap between crypto-native activity and the traditional banking system. That problem required a dedicated company, led by the same founders and powered by the same on-chain analytics foundations that Glassnode has spent years developing. “When we founded Glassnode, our mission was to make on-chain data understandable and useful for anyone serious about digital asset markets. Cense extends that mission into the regulated banking layer, applying the same analytical rigor to one of the most consequential workflows in finance. Spinning Cense out as an independent company was the right way to give that mission the focus and pace it deserves, and this funding round confirms that the market sees the opportunity as clearly as we do,” says Jan Happel, co-founder and CEO of Glassnode. The funding comes at a structural inflection point for digital assets. Capital is increasingly moving between crypto and traditional finance, whether through long-held positions being realized, stablecoin liquidity moving across venues, or institutional allocators repositioning at scale. Banks are now being asked to engage with clients and transactions that their existing infrastructure was not designed to assess. The operational layer that connects on-chain activity to bank-grade compliance documentation has become one of the clearest unmet needs in the market. The Cense platform addresses this gap. By collecting and analyzing wallet, exchange and transaction data, it automates crypto compliance due diligence and produces standardized, auditable documentation that banks can act on. Conventional AML systems were not built for digital assets, while pure crypto analytics platforms often fail to reflect the regulatory and decision-making realities of financial institutions. Cense bridges that gap by translating complex on-chain activity into structured, bank-usable evidence. “What stands out most is the team behind Cense: the founders have already built two successful companies, including Glassnode, and are early pioneers in the space. They combine strong product expertise with proven entrepreneurial experience. The market opportunity is equally compelling, driven by accelerating institutional adoption of digital assets and an increasingly complex regulatory environment that demands precisely such solutions,” says Andreas Barthelmes, Principal at G+D Ventures. “Banks need trusted infrastructure to manage digital asset exposure with the same confidence they apply to financial crime and compliance,” says Dennis Wohlfarth, CEO of Cense. “This investment validates Cense’s position as that infrastructure layer. G+D Ventures and Rabo Investments bring deep expertise, strong banking networks and operational experience, giving us a strong foundation for the continued expansion of Cense.” “What I find compelling about Cense is that the team understands both the complexity of digital assets and the operational realities of financial institutions. That combination is rare, and it is exactly what is needed when building infrastructure for banks,” says Sander ten Hagen, Investor at Cense. Pascal Deck, Investor at Rabo Investments, adds: “Cense addresses a critical blind spot in crypto compliance by combining on-chain and off-chain insights, enabling institutions to onboard clients with greater speed, confidence and regulatory clarity, positioning it as a key enabler for scaling into digital assets. As more investors incorporate crypto into their portfolios, solutions like Cense are essential to turn a traditionally complex onboarding process into a seamless and scalable experience.” With the new funding, Cense will accelerate the technological development of its platform and expand its market presence across Europe. About Cense Cense is a Swiss crypto intelligence specialist, founded in 2023 as a spinout of Glassnode. The Cense platform helps banks and financial institutions gain visibility into customers’ digital asset activity and provides the infrastructure to assess, document, and manage that activity at scale while meeting increasing regulatory requirements.
The full report is freely available in PDF format. Download PDF version Welcome to Strategy Watch #4 Strategy Watch was built to address a clear demand for high-signal, impartial analysis of fund-level performance and allocation trends in digital assets. Our objective is straightforward — to make Strategy Watch a must-read monthly publication for the digital asset investment community. This publication is strengthened by direct input from market participants. Funds and allocators that contribute data and insights help shape a more complete and valuable view of the landscape. If you have insights, data, or allocation updates worth sharing, we welcome your contribution. Present your latest initiatives and updates to a curated audience of institutional allocators. Share updates ↗ Inside the Latest Strategy Watch The report is structured across six core sections, each focused on a distinct dimension of institutional activity in digital assets: 01 Institutional Flow Monitor | Defensive positioning persisted through April as BTC and ETH outflows eased further, stablecoin demand accelerated, and ETF inflows remained constructive. 02 Fund and SMA Performance | Every sub-strategy posted gains for the month, a level of cross-strategy alignment not seen in recent memory. Is this a rebound or repositioning? 03 Strategy Deep Dive: DeFi/Yield | Hear a CIO's perspective on where edge comes from as lending spreads compress and smart contract risk evolves 04 On-chain Vault Performance | Are ETH curators underperforming ETH staking yield? 05 Manager Monitor | Find out how more than 400+ managers are positioning for Q2, with cash levels climbing to multi-year highs despite a more constructive market backdrop. 06 Allocation Updates | Pension allocations rise alongside strategic acquisitions and new launches across yield, trading, and digital asset strategies. in partnership with The Premier Digital Assets Allocator Platform. Learn more Institutional Flow Monitor BTC capital flows nearly recovered to neutral through April while stablecoin inflows surged to multi-month highs, though ETH remained persistently in net outflow. Bitcoin capital flows recovered materially through April, improving from -$6.9B at month-open to nearly neutral at -$0.7B by month-end, continuing the gradual deceleration of outflows observed in March. Stablecoins showed the strongest directional move, with inflows accelerating from +$1.8B in early April to +$5.4B by month-end, suggesting a meaningful rotation of capital into dollar-denominated on-chain instruments. Ethereum stood apart from both trends, remaining in persistent net outflow throughout the month and closing at -$1.6B, broadly unchanged from its March reading. The divergence between a stabilizing BTC, surging stablecoin demand, and a lagging ETH points to a selective rather than broad-based recovery in capital allocation. ETF & DAT Net Flows BTC ETF and DAT flows held positive through April while ETH staged a notable turnaround, flipping from deep outflow in early April to meaningful inflows by month-end. Bitcoin ETF flows maintained positive territory throughout April, recovering from a mid-month dip to close at +26.3k BTC, while DAT flows strengthened progressively to +58.8k BTC by month-end. The more significant shift came from Ethereum, where ETF flows opened the month at -135k ETH before turning positive around April 18 and closing at +140.6k ETH. ETH DAT flows remained constructive throughout, finishing at +408.6k ETH. While BTC institutional demand showed consistency, the ETH turnaround is the more notable development, though it remains early and the magnitude of the late-month recovery warrants monitoring before drawing conclusions about a durable change in positioning. DeFi TVL & Stablecoin Cap DeFi TVL flows on Ethereum reversed sharply in April, erasing the March stabilization as outflows accelerated to multi-month highs in the final week. After nearly reaching neutral at month-end March, Ethereum DeFi TVL flows deteriorated steadily through April. The first half of the month was relatively contained, with flows oscillating near neutral before turning more negative around mid-month. The picture changed materially in the final ten days, with outflows accelerating to a peak of -$11.3B around April 25 before partially recovering to -$7.6B at month-end. Total ETH locked in DeFi fell from ~$54B at month-open to ~$44.9B by close. The reversal of March's stabilization trend suggests the earlier recovery was fragile, and the renewed pace of withdrawal points to sustained allocator caution toward on-chain yield strategies heading into May. CME Basis Yield CME basis yield deteriorated sharply through April for both BTC and ETH, with carry returns turning deeply negative by month-end as futures markets shifted into persistent backwardation. After closing March at -$3.9M and +$0.9M respectively, BTC and ETH CME basis yields both briefly recovered in early-to-mid April, with BTC reaching +$3.3M and ETH +$1.7M around April 9-12. The recovery proved short-lived. Both assets deteriorated sharply through the second half of the month, with BTC closing April at -$21.2M and ETH at -$6.0M. The depth and pace of this reversal suggests futures markets moved into meaningful backwardation, removing the economic basis for cash-and-carry strategies entirely. For institutions running market-neutral books, the carry environment in April offered no compensation, reinforcing the broader picture of reduced leverage deployment and subdued institutional risk appetite. Disclaimer: This report does not provide any investment advice. All data is provided for information and educational purposes only. No investment decision shall be based on the information provided here and you are solely responsible for your own investment decisions. Exchange balances presented are derived from Glassnode’s comprehensive database of address labels, which are amassed through both officially published exchange information and proprietary clustering algorithms. While we strive to ensure the utmost accuracy in representing exchange balances, it is important to note that these figures might not always encapsulate the entirety of an exchange’s reserves, particularly when exchanges refrain from disclosing their official addresses. We urge users to exercise caution and discretion when utilizing these metrics. Glassnode shall not be held responsible for any discrepancies or potential inaccuracies. Please read our Transparency Notice when using exchange data.
The full report is freely available in PDF format. Download PDF version Welcome to Strategy Watch #3 Strategy Watch was built to address a clear demand for high-signal, impartial analysis of fund-level performance and allocation trends in digital assets. Our objective is straightforward — to make Strategy Watch a must-read monthly publication for the digital asset investment community. Funds and allocators that contribute data and insights help shape a more complete and valuable view of the landscape. If you have insights, data, or allocation updates worth sharing, we welcome your contribution. Present your latest initiatives and updates to a curated audience of institutional allocators. Share updates ↗ Inside the Latest Strategy Watch The report is structured across six core sections, each focused on a distinct dimension of institutional activity in digital assets: 01 Institutional Flow Monitor | Early stabilization as BTC/ETH outflows improve and ETF demand recovers, but conviction in spot markets remains under pressure. 02 Fund and SMA Performance | Market-neutral strategies delivered consistent gains; directional performance remains highly dispersed. 03 Strategy Deep Dive: Quant Trend Following | What’s driving quant trend performance in a difficult environment for directional strategies? Hear directly from a fund manager. 04 On-chain Vault Performance | Are ETH curators underperforming ETH staking yield? 05 Manager Monitor | Find out how more than 300 managers are expecting the crypto market to perform over the next three months. 06 Allocation Updates | A $6B pension fund increases crypto exposure as new funds and institutional strategies continue to launch. in partnership with The Premier Digital Assets Allocator Platform. Learn more Institutional Flow Monitor BTC and ETH capital flows remained negative through March but continued to recover from February lows, while stablecoin inflows moderated alongside the broader stabilization. Bitcoin and Ethereum continued to register net outflows through March, with capital flows closing the month at -$7.0B and -$1.6B respectively, a notable improvement from the -$9.6B and -$3.2B readings seen in mid-February. Stablecoin inflows also moderated to +$2.6B by month-end, easing from the +$6.2B peak earlier in March. The overall picture is one of gradual stabilization rather than recovery, with the acute phase of institutional de-risking losing momentum but conviction in spot assets remaining under pressure. ETF & DAT Net Flows BTC ETF and DAT flows swung decisively positive through March, with ETH channels following at a more measured pace before both eased into month-end. Bitcoin ETF and DAT flows finally turned positive through March, reaching intra-month highs of +30.6k BTC and +46.8k BTC respectively mid-month before settling back to +17.6k BTC and +30.9k BTC by month-end. Ethereum flows mirrored the directional shift with less intensity, as ETF flows reached +46.6k ETH and DAT flows peaked at +295.9k ETH before easing to +261.9k ETH at close. The mid-month surge followed by minor pullback, suggests demand remains sensitive to wider market conditions, rather than a true sustained structural shift in institutional positioning. DeFi TVL & Stablecoin Cap DeFi TVL flows on Ethereum staged a significant recovery through March, reversing from peak February outflows to near-neutral territory by month-end. After registering peak monthly outflows of $17.8B at end of February, Ethereum DeFi TVL flows recovered sharply through March, turning positive in mid-month and closing the period near neutral at -$0.75B. The pace of recovery was notable, with flows moving from double-digit outflows in early March to briefly positive readings around $4.9B by mid-month before settling back. While the trend shift is meaningful, a single month of stabilization is insufficient to declare a reversal of the broader contraction that has persisted since August 2025, and sustained inflows would be required to confirm a genuine return of allocator conviction in on-chain yield strategies. CME Basis Yield BTC CME basis yield turned negative through March, erasing the carry trade entirely, while ETH basis yield remained subdued but showed tentative signs of recovery by month-end. Here we measure return available to institutions running cash-and-carry trades. After compressing through February to $17.3M/month, BTC basis yield crossed into negative territory mid-March and closed the month at -$3.9M, reflecting a full inversion of the carry premium. This signals futures are trading at a discount to spot, removing the economic rationale for market-neutral strategies entirely. ETH basis yield, already negative at end of February, oscillated in a narrow range before recovering modestly to +0.9M by month-end. Taken together, the carry environment for both assets remains structurally challenged, with meaningful recovery contingent on a sustained rebuilding of futures premium above spot. Disclaimer: This report does not provide any investment advice. All data is provided for information and educational purposes only. No investment decision shall be based on the information provided here and you are solely responsible for your own investment decisions. Exchange balances presented are derived from Glassnode’s comprehensive database of address labels, which are amassed through both officially published exchange information and proprietary clustering algorithms. While we strive to ensure the utmost accuracy in representing exchange balances, it is important to note that these figures might not always encapsulate the entirety of an exchange’s reserves, particularly when exchanges refrain from disclosing their official addresses. We urge users to exercise caution and discretion when utilizing these metrics. Glassnode shall not be held responsible for any discrepancies or potential inaccuracies. Please read our Transparency Notice when using exchange data.