One of the largest digital asset exchanges in the Philippines has raised $30 million in its Series C funding round as the local market continues to see rapid growth. Coins.ph, which ex-Binance CFO Wei Zhou recently acquired, says the funding will go to growth and development as well as expansion into Web3.
The funding round was led by Ribbit Capital, a VC firm that has invested in several successes, including Robinhood and Coinbase.
“As the Philippines continues to witness the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies, there is a real need for a secure, regulated, and user-friendly product in the market. We are solving that problem by delivering crypto and payment services that allow our customers to access, invest, trade, and spend their crypto assets seamlessly as a part of their daily lifestyles,” Zhou commented.
Zhou acquired the company in April for $200 million from Indonesian giant Gojek. As CoinGeek reported, Zhou is a former Binance executive who left the exchange abruptly last year as it faced an intense regulatory crackdown after years of reckless flouting of financial laws.
Coins.ph claims to have 16 million users, making it one of the largest exchanges in the Philippines. Zhou says that he will channel some of the funding into increasing its user base by adding more crypto tokens and upgrading the Coins.Pro exchange. He also plans to offer additional merchant and payment services and support GameFi.
“Our mission is to increase financial inclusion across Southeast Asia’s largely unbanked population of 650 million through our highly trusted brand and long track record of operating in full compliance with regulations,” he commented.
In addition, the company will focus on Web3, the decentralized iteration of the Internet, which focuses on data ownership. Zhou believes there is a massive opportunity to bring in new users as Web3 surges in the Philippines.
The Southeast Asian country has been a global leader in play-to-earn games. Before its infamous hack, Axie Infinity had grown into one of the world’s largest P2E gaming platforms, and a lot of its success was down to Filipino gamers. At one point, the country was said to constitute 40% of Axie’s user base.
“We see a massive opportunity to capture new users as engagement with Web3 surges in the Philippines and beyond. We will continue to build upon our leading market share and acquire new customers with a product that connects digital-first users with real-world goods and services,” Zhou added.
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