Congrats to our portfolio company Pintu, the Coinbase of Southeast Asia, on raising their $113m Series B round with top investors Lightspeed, Intudo Ventures, and Northstar Group involved.
Since 2014, I had been searching for the right crypto brokerage to partner with in Southeast Asia and Pantera led the Series A round of Pintu a bit over a year ago. That blog post outlines a bit on the opportunity in the region.
Outside of a bet on the region, the investment was a bet on the team and the product-first approach to bringing crypto not only to the existing crypto adopters but to mainstream users in a regulated way.
Since the Series A round, the company has accomplished:
Pintu Academy for eduction
7x their user base to 4 million users
Expanded to over 50 crypto currencies
Introduced yield
Launched their Pintu token
With the Indonesian population becoming more familiar and exposed to cryptocurrencies, I believe that there will be an emergence of more blockchain use cases around gaming and NFTs where interfaces like Pintu will remain essential to accessing the broader ecosystem in the region!
- Paul Veradittakit
Pantera Hosting Late Night Party in Austin
Join Pantera Capital for a late night after party on day two of Consensus. There will be drinks, food trucks, desserts, and a live DJ! Come connect with the top crypto projects, founders, funds, and developers.
Register for the event HERE
DIGESTS
New Research Unearths Insights Into Satoshi and Bitcoin’s Early Days
The paper makes no claims about the Bitcoin network today, more than a decade after the end of the period analyzed. But it underscores well-known and longstanding privacy challenges.
Investing in Pintu
We’re thrilled to be doubling down on our investment in Pintu, Indonesia’s leading cryptocurrency exchange and assets platform.
NEWS
Solana Com $100M to Support South Korean Crypto Projects
The fund, created by Solana Ventures and the Solana Foundation, will focus on virtual gaming, and will invest in NFT and DeFi projects.
Crypto Bank Custodia Sues Federal Reserve
The bank founded by Morgan Stanley veteran Caitlin Long filed suit against the U.S. central bank for delaying a decision on its application for a master account.
REGULATION
US Regulators Investigating Binance’s BNB Token: Report
The SEC is looking into whether the crypto exchange should have registered the initial coin offering of Binance coin as a security, according to Bloomberg.
Previewing the Regulatory Panels at Consensus 2022
Welcome to our annual shindig, now back in person after two years of virtual events.
IN THE TWEETS
NEW PRODUCTS AND HOT DEALS
Indonesian Exchange Pintu Raises $113M to Meet Country's Crypto Boom
The exchange previously raised $35 million in a Series A extension last August.
PayPal Converts Conditional Virtual Currency License to Full BitLicense
The payments giant announced it would let users withdraw their crypto holdings to their own wallets earlier today.
LETS MEET UP
Consensus 2022, Austin, June 8-13
NFT.NYC, New York City, June 20-24
London, July 14-18
EthCC, Paris, July 19-22
Walks and coffee meetings in San Francisco throughout the year!
ABOUT ME
Hi, I’m Paul Veradittakit, a Partner at Pantera Capital, one of the oldest and largest institutional investors focused on investing in blockchain companies and cryptocurrencies. I’ve been in the industry since 2014, and the firm invests in equity, early stage token projects, and liquid cryptocurrencies on exchanges. I focus on early-stage investments and share my thoughts on what’s going on in the industry in this weekly newsletter.