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Crypto Payroll Startup Toku Raises $20 Million As Blockchain Firms Lean Into Compliance

In Silicon Valley and other tech hubs, companies have long been familiar with the challenge of paying a global network of employees in cash and shares. But as the crypto industry matures, firms now have to manage a new type of compensation—digital tokens issued by blockchain projects.

That’s why Ken O’Friel, a Tokyo-based former equities trader, cofounded Toku, a startup that helps crypto companies comply with a raft of international tax obligations related to token-based salaries.

On Wednesday, Toku announced it’s raised $20 million in an initial round led by Blockchain Capital and other investors, including the law firm Orrick and the founders of Protocol Labs and infrastructure firm Alchemy.

Toku currently has around 30 clients that are primarily, in O’Friels words, “enterprises that have lawyers,” including Decentralized Autonomous Organizations. These include familiar crypto names like Filecoin Foundation, Gitcoin, Gnosis, Hedera Hashgraph, and PleasrDAO. In the coming year, Toku has plans to attract clients from the venture capital industry as well.

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