Report: BitPay gains $30 million in new investment round from Richard Branson and Jerry Yang

TechCrunch is reporting that Atlanta-based bitcoin-payment processor BitPay has received a new round of investment funding from Index Ventures, with Virgin’s Richard Branson and Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang also participating. If true, the rumored $30 million investment would be the single largest funding round for a bitcoin startup. The report claims that BitPay’s new valuation is now roughly $160 million.

Since 2012 the company has previously raised a little over $5 million in various funding rounds, bringing their total venture capital investment to around $35 million. According to TechCruch, his puts BitPay at the front of the pack.

With BitPay’s previous funding round, the company’s financing tops the combined $26 million that Boston-based rival Circle has raised from Accel Partners, or the $31 million that San Francisco-based Coinbase raised from Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures or the $20 million round that Benchmark led for Xapo.

Thus far, the $30 million cash injection is unconfirmed by BitPay or investors. The investment rumors aren’t exactly implausible. Branson is a noted bitcoin enthusiast, and already has a working relationship with BitPay. The company appears to be a reasonably good bet for any venture capital firm, claiming over $100 million in BTC transactions last year. The company also has several noted partnerships with notable companies, including Farmville-maker Zynga, WordPress and the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.