UK-based startup Argent Labs Ltd., a maker of Ethereum cryptocurrency wallets, announced Thursday that it has raised $ 40 million in new funding to build a “super app” product that allows users to trade with more than 240 different tokens. Did.
The Series B funding round was led by Fabric Ventures and Metaplanet. Other investors who participated in the round included Animoca Brands, Jump Trading Group, Cerandum, Index Ventures and Paradigm.
Launched in 2017, Argent started as a wallet on the Ethereum blockchain, allowing users to buy, securely store and trade cryptocurrency tokens. Since its launch, we have built a product set that allows users to participate in a decentralized token economy called Web3, which is supported by blockchain technology.
Argent’s features include the ability to buy crypto tokens with a credit card or bank transfer, and exchange tokens with the tap of a button. Users can also earn interest on tokens by “staking” the tokens into a savings account that basically bears 5% or 15% interest depending on the type of cryptocurrency. ..
Last year, Argent announced that it would add a feature called Layer 2 features that is part of Ethereum’s scaling to reduce transaction times and fees. Since then, the company has attracted more than 500,000 users.
With this new funding, the company wants to incorporate more features into its wallet, providing users with more than just decentralized financial opportunities. Argent co-founder and CEO Itamar Lesuisse said the company is exploring the capabilities of virtual real estate, gambling, decentralized autonomy, and non-fungible tokens.
“For cryptocurrencies to reach their full potential, we need to break the shackles of large exchanges and existing wallets,” he said. “For most people, this experience is horrifying, expensive, and unsafe. Argent will fix it.”
By incorporating all of these various features into a “one-stop shop” of cryptographic capabilities, Argent is building a “super app” for Web3 applications, Lesuisse said.
One of Argent’s biggest selling points for hiring users is the mobile app. This allows users to store cryptocurrency tokens in so-called non-storage wallets without having to remember or protect the seed phrase. This is a 12- or 24-word phrase that represents the encryption key of the wallet that holds the encryption token in case the app is corrupted or destroyed.
In an unmanaged wallet, if a user loses a secret seed phrase, they lose money. Of course, it can be stressful. Therefore, Argent relieves this stress by relying on a “guardian”. These parents can take the form of hardware wallets, third-party services, or humans who can approve account recovery and untrusted transactions.
The security of a company’s backup is “bulletproof” and the recovery mechanism allows only the original user to access the asset. Even argents can’t, and parents can’t get close to them. All they can do is enable recovery.
Argent said it would initially focus on Latin America, especially Mexico, and use the funds to expand its business globally. The company also plans to double the size of all remote teams to about 50 this year.
Photo: Argent
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