Flashbots, a provider of software used to package Ethereum blockchain transactions, raised $60 million to help finance the development of a new version of the technology.

The San Francisco-based firm Paradigm led the series B round, a shift from the recent trend among Silicon Valley venture capitalists pivoting to artificial intelligence companies from crypto. The financing was raised through a so-called “beauty contest for decentralization” in which investors were selected based on their reverse pitches, according to a statement Tuesday from Cayman Islands-based Flashbots. The funding gives it a valuation of of at least $1 billion, a representative of Flashbots said.