Coinbase’s $75M raise shows investors still see gold in Bitcoin

Coinbase announced a raise today of $75 million, putting the company’s total fundraising just over $106 million.

That’s the biggest raise that a Bitcoin company has every seen, despite the fact that Bitcoin’s value continues to decline. Last week, the coin fell below $200. As of this writing, however, it’s worth roughly $210 per Bitcoin.

Today’s raise isn’t surprising, according to numbers from social investing platform Hedgeable — investors still have faith in Bitcoin’s overall trajectory. The platform surveyed its community of investors to see where they thought the price of Bitcoin is headed in the next three years.

The community is divided up between traders, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, Bitcoin enthusiasts, and the media. While the media has no hope for the future of Bitcoin, traders showed more faith. They predict that though Bitcoin may have a rough 2015, it will rebound in the years to follow with a 171 percent price increase in 2016 and a 152 percent rise in 2017.

This echoes a larger sentiment in the overall Bitcoin community that the ecosystem is maturing.

In 2014, VCs invested a fat $335 million compared with $96 million in 2013, according to Coindesk. But money isn’t the only indication that Bitcoin is maturing. Many of the Bitcoin startups cropping up are run by entrepreneurs and former financial analysts rather than Bitcoin enthusiasts. And there has been a large emphasis on making Bitcoin companies accountable to their users.

Many also saw the U.S. Marshall’s Bitcoin auction as a sign that the U.S. government is beginning to take the cryptocoin seriously. Two major investors, SecondMarket and Draper Associates, were the winners of that auction, putting further credence in the coin.

Enthusiasts will also point to the development of regulation for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. California legalized Bitcoin, and Texas says Bitcoin ATM operators need to obtain licensing. Meanwhile New York’s Department of Financial Services drafted up a Bitlicense.

So brace yourselves. Bitcoin may not be imploding — it may just be having some growing pains. In the meantime, if today’s investment in Coinbase is any indication, it looks like we’ll continue to see further investment in Bitcoin in 2015.