Crypto exchange MoonPay has raised $555 million in its first financing round led by Tiger Global Management and hedge fund Coatue and is now worth $3.4 billion.

The crypto startup plans to use the funds to hire 200 new employees, more than doubling their current staff of 130, according to MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright.

"As we enter 2022, our aim is to continue this exceptional growth so that we remain the leading company powering the crypto economy," the company wrote in its press release.

In just two-and-a-half years after the Miami-based crypto exchange was established, MoonPay has processed more than $2 billion in transactions, built a customer base of more than 7 million users, facilitated more than 30 fiat currencies and 90 cryptocurrencies, grown its partner ecosystem by 5x, and seen more than 35x growth in transaction volume.

"We are on a mission to help billions of people access trillions of dollars of digital value over the next decade and beyond," Soto-Wright added.

MoonPay has been compared to PayPal, according to Soto-Wright. “We believe the future of crypto is about customers taking possession of their private keys, passwords that grant people access to their funds,” he said.

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