MoonPay announced Monday it has raised $555 million in its first ever funding round that boosts its new valuation to $3.4 billion. Tiger Global and Coatue led the round for the financial technology startup.
Founded in 2018, Miami-based MoonPay's software helps users buy and sell cryptocurrencies using conventional payment methods including credit cards, bank transfers, or mobile wallets like Apple Pay (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google Pay (NASDAQ: GOOGL). The firm also sells its technology to other businesses like crypto website Bitcoin.com and non-fungible tokens marketplace OpenSea.
MoonPay's pitch is that it offers a "gateway" to digital assets, but its long-term vision is to expand the platform to include everything from digital fashion to tokenized stocks. MoonPay said it has been profitable since its platform launch in 2019. The firm is on track to reach 7 million customers and annual revenue of $150 million this year amid a 35-fold skyrocketing of transaction volume. Its competitors include industry giants Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) and Paypal (NASDAQ: PYPL).
Here is the rest of the week in review:
Citigroup (NYSE: C) is hiring 100 more employees to bolster its growing blockchain and digital assets division, according to media reports Monday. CoinDesk also reported that the financial giant has made Puneet Singhvi head of digital assets for the institutional clients group as of Dec. 1, moving him from his most recent role as head of blockchain and digital assets for Citi's Global Markets team. Singhvi will report to Emily Turner, head of business development for the Institutional Clients Group at Citi. Also, Shobhit Maini and Vasant Viswanathan will be co-heads of blockchain and digital assets for Global Markets. Citi said in a memo it aims to "hire additional talent over the next several months, and will be posting roles across ICG businesses, functions, and the ICG Business Development team." The bank noted: "We are focused on assessing the needs of our clients in the digital asset space," while also focusing on the evolving regulatory landscape and associated risks of the industry before offering new products and services.
Adidas (OTC: ADDYY) has partnered with Coinbase on a secretive project. Adidas brand Adidas Originals announced it has partnered with Coinbase, and the partnership has received a lot of attention within the crypto space due to the German firm's position as one of the leading global sports apparel makers. Adidas tweeted, "We've partnered with Coinbase. Probably nothing." Coinbase replied to the tweet, welcoming Adidas, but neither Coinbase nor Adidas provided further details regarding the partnership. An Adidas spokesperson elaborated a few days that the firm is very focused on the metaverse: "The Metaverse is currently one of the most exciting developments in digital, making it an interesting platform for Adidas." Though it the potential Adidas metaverse still remains unknown, firms in the crypto space have long toyed with the idea of a blockchain-based Metaverse blending digital and physical concepts of ownership. Coinbase is also launching its own NFT marketplace soon.
Crypto prices plunged to $2.476 trillion amid the global selloff of risk assets. For the majors, most ended in the red. In the top 100, the biggest decliners were IoTeX (IOTX), down 30%, ICON (ICX), down 29%, and CELO, down 21%. The biggest gainers were GALA, up 83%, The Sandbox (SAND), up 77%, and Basic Attention Token (BAT), up 45%. Next week traders will watch if crypto continues its correction.
The author does not hold any positions in any of the assets above.