Italian bank Banca Generali has invested $14 million in Series B funding round for crypto firm Conio. The California-based cryptocurrency firm is already serving over 150,000 cryptocurrency portfolios for its Italian customers. Banca Generali has also signed a commercial agreement with Conio to offer cryptocurrency services for its banking customers from next year.

Banca Generali Leads $14 Million Series B For Conio

Conio, which already has an office in Milan, was founded in 2015 by co-CEOs Christian Miccoli and Vincenzo di Nicola. In fact, di Nicola is a blockchain strategy advisor to the Italian government for the Ministry for Economic Development’s blockchain experts committee.

Banca Generali CEO Gian Maria Mossa, said:

“Blockchain technology and digital currencies are gaining a place in global payment systems and, as an innovative bank keen to develop digital services, we want to be able to offer broader services to our clients and to be competitive in this new environment.”

Conio, in addition to a Bitcoin wallet and related offerings, holds patents for blockchain technologies that ensure secure custody. These include a digital currency custody system with multiple signatures such as three security keys.

The Italian private bank in addition to offering bitcoin trading services will also offer Conio’s custody services to its customers by 2021.

Conio’s Total Funding Amounts to $20.5M Since Launch

Smaller investors were also included in the Series B round, although they were not made public. As per a representative from Conio, Banca Generali invested for the majority of the total raise, although the exact figure is not known.

The recent Series B investment brings Conio’s total funding to date to $20.5 million since its launch in 2015. The firm had previously raised $3 million and $3.5 million in seed and Series A funding rounds, respectively.

Earlier this year, Conio announced a similar partnership with Italian challenger bank HYPE to enable its customers to buy, sell, and hold bitcoin.