Hong Kong - Paul Hastings advised Horizons Ventures Limited as a lead investor in a US$55 million Series A financing of Blockstream, a leading innovator in blockchain and related technologies. As part of the funding, Horizons has joined the Board of Directors.

Blockchain technology is predicted to be the next big investment wave, and perhaps one of the most transformative ideas to impact the world since the Internet. The blockchain is a public transaction ledger built in a decentralized network structure based on cryptographic principles so that any kind of trading, buying and selling of assets does not need to go through a centralized intermediary. Any kind of asset may be encoded into the blockchain and transacted, validated, or preserved in a much more efficient manner than at present including ideas, health data, financial assets, automobiles, and government documents.

Blockstream’s core area of innovation is sidechains, a technology focused on improving on the blockchain, including Bitcoin.

Horizons is an investment firm focused on disruptive technologies and is co-founded by business magnate Li Ka-Shing, one of Asia’s richest persons.

The Paul Hastings team was led by Hong Kong-based M&A partner Victor Chen, with support from associate Karen Wong