Sept 21 (Reuters) - Bitcoin mining company Genesis Digital Assets said on Tuesday it had raised $431 million in a funding round led by crypto-focused investment firm Paradigm, taking advantage of rising investor interest in the cryptocurrency sector.

The round also included bitcoin-focused financial services firm NYDIG, crypto firm FTX, venture capital firms Ribbit and Electric Capital and UK-based private equity fund Kingsway Capital.

Kingsway Capital had also invested $125 million in Genesis Digital Assets in July https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/genesis-digital-assets-announces-125-million-raise-to-expand-industrial-scale-bitcoin-mining-operations-301343164.html to help to aid the miner's expansion.

Despite wild price swings and a punishing mid-year slide, several institutional investors have dived into the cryptocurrency space this year in a boost for prices of bitcoin and other digital currencies.

FTX in July raised $900 million at a valuation of $18 billion. (https://reut.rs/2XMa4of)

Active since 2013, Genesis has mined more than $1 billion in bitcoin and recently bought 20,000 mining machines from China-based manufacturer Canaan Inc to ramp up its North America and Nordic operations.

The company said it expected to reach a data center capacity of 1.4 gigawatts by the end of 2023, compared with more than 170 megawatts as of September.

(Reporting by Sohini Podder and Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)