INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
imToken, which claims to be the world’s largest Ethereum wallet, will focus on expanding in Asia and the United States after raising a $10
million Series A from IDG Capital, it announced today
The capital will also be used to add new features, including support for Bitcoin, EOS and other blockchains.imToken is the latest addition
to IDG Capital’s cryptocurrency investments, which include Coinbase and Circle
In a press statement, IDG Capital partner Young Guo said “imToken has developed its product into one of the top crypto asset wallets in
the world with such a sound reputation
We believe it will become a significant infrastructure for the tokenization manifesto, benefitting both the crypto economy and blockchain
We’re excited to back imToken.”
Founded in 2016 by chief executive officer Ben He and based in Hangzhou, imToken’s core market is
The company supports 30,000 tokens, claims more than 4 million monthly active users and says it handled $35 million in pass-through
transactions last year.He tells TechCrunch the company will use its new capital to study local regulations and launch imToken 2.0
international in new markets
It will focus first on Southeast Asia before looking toward other Asian countries, like Korea, Japan and India, where “regulations are
maturing quickly and as a result we’re doing our due diligence amid increasing scrutiny from local governments,” He says.Then imToken
will concentrate on countries in Africa, including Nigeria, where they already have a user base
Its expansion into the U.S
will happen at the same time as the rest of its international roll out.In addition to the imToken wallet, the company’s services also
include Tokenlon, an in-app decentralized exchange in partnership with Kyber Network and 0x, and DApp store, a marketplace for decentralized
mobile apps.In its new markets, especially the U.S., imToken will face several established competitors, including digital services
MyEtherWallet, Coinbase and Ledger Nano, as well as a host of hardware wallets
He is sanguine about the competition, saying the goal of all blockchain companies is to move the technology forward and that imToken has
built positive relationships with its rivals.He adds that imToken’s advantage, however, is “taking a step further than our competitors,
as we’re focused on building an ecosystem within imToken for all our users.” The company wants to “move toward a blockchain-agnostic
stage,” which means users will be able to store different assets in one of imToken wallets
Then it wants to lower the barrier for entry into blockchain tech by making it easier to manage assets across different platforms, including
peer-to-peer transactions and merchant payments, with imToken 2.0 International.
