This year, cryptocurrency start-ups have raised record amounts of money. Several big participants, including virtual currency exchange Gemini to blockchain start-up ConsenSys, recently announced significant new funding deals.
MoonPay, a relative newcomer, is trying to capitalize on the cryptocurrency craze and has announced that it raised $555 million in its first round of financing. Another start-up called HUH Token, is also looking to get in on the crypto frenzy and has announced $1 million locked liquidity for its launch on 6 December.
MoonPay’s software, founded in 2018, enables users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies using traditional payment methods such as credit cards, bank transfers, or mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Additionally, it licenses its technology to third-party firms such as cryptocurrency website Bitcoin.com and non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea.
The firm’s goal is to make crypto accessible to the masses in the same way that video-conferencing applications such as Zoom made making calls over the internet simpler.
The firm has stated that it wants to be “PayPal for cryptocurrencies”.
With BTC (bitcoin) and other crypto currencies gain new all-time highs recently, venture capital investment in the market rising. Investors are on the lookout for the next Coinbase or Shiba Inu following the blockbuster listings of the crypto exchange and meme coin this year.
The thesis made by MoonPay to investors is that it acts as a “gateway” to digital assets. For the time being, this includes bitcoin, ether, and other digital assets such as NFTs.
The corporation says it has robust controls and checks in place to combat money laundering. Regulators have grown increasingly suspicious of market-wide criminal behavior.
MoonPay claims to have been profitable since its platform launched in 2019. The firm is on course to reach $150 million in annual revenue this year, following a 35-fold increase in transaction volumes from 2020. It presently has more than 7 million customers.
Nonetheless, the company confronts fierce competition, not least from financial pioneers such as PayPal, which last year launched its own cryptocurrency features.
However, Cryptocurrencies, are famously volatile, and this has affected even the most well-known firms in the industry. Coinbase, for example, missed third-quarter revenue forecasts due to a decline in monthly users.
Bitcoin reached a record high of about $69,000 earlier this month, but has since fallen roughly 17%. Meanwhile, Ether is down 13% from its record high.
But with great volatility can come great reward, as holders of cryptos like Shiba Inu and Dogecoin found out this year. Shiba Inu rocketed 70,000% making some people crypto millionaires and even one or two billionaires.
HUH Token is looking to build off of the success of MoonPay and the cryptocurrency market boom when it releases on 6 December. Its creators have not minced their words when stating that they aim to be one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies in the world within the next few years.
HUH Token is set to release its widely anticipated white paper this week and has announced that it will lock in $1 million of liquidity when it launched on popular exchanges PancakeSwap and Uniswap.
The new cryptocurrency has some exciting features, including a referral scheme where holders can refer other people and receive 10% of that person’s initial purchase in Binance Coin or Ethereum, depending on which exchange they are purchasing on. Holders can refer an unlimited amount of people, earning BNB or ETH each time they do.
HUH Token is also rumored to have thousands of social media influencers signed on to promote it and help build its community, dubbed the HUH Nation.
The new cryptocurrency is currently in a pre-sale stage, which will end in just a few days, presenting the opportunity to make huge gains for those who get in early.
Story by Zim Zac
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