a16z Leads $9M Investment in Multi-Chain Crypto Wallet Phantom
2 min read
Phantom, a multi-chain crypto wallet and browser extension for managing digital assets and accessing decentralized apps (dApps) has raised $9 million in Series A financing round led by venture capital behemoth Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
The funding round also saw participation from Variant Fund and Jump Capital, as well as from Garry Tan, an early Coinbase investor, and other angel investors representing DeFi projects Compound and dYdX. Other notable participants include DeFi Alliance, ETH Foundation, and Solana Foundation.
Launched in beta in April 2021, Phantom previously received $500,000 in grants from Serum and Solana, and claims to have grown its user base to 70,000, mainly via an American userbase.
Through a browser extension compatible with Google Chrome, Brave, and Firefox, the wallet allows users to transact and interact with decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, decentralized exchanges, non-fungible token (NFT) platforms, and blockchain games on the Solana blockchain. All that, as the Phantom team emphasizes, is happening through the wallet’s easy-to-use and intuitive interface.
With the new funds secured, the project plans to hire new talent, develop new platform features, and introduce integrations with other blockchains.
Phantom’s multi-chain future
According to Brandon Millman, CEO and co-founder of Phantom, other wallets available on the market make it difficult to move crypto assets between different blockchains as users have to rely on third-party assistance.
“With the world moving into a multi-chain future, the strong interest from the participants in our beta group indicates that our team has designed a DeFi wallet for the masses,” said Millman.
Phantom’s plans also include the release of mobile applications for iOS and Android, as well as support for ETH and ETH Layer 2 solutions, bridges between chains, ETH and SOL staking, and a fiat onramp via Moonpay.
The latter will supplement the already existing integration with FTX Pay, a payment processor created by cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which allows users to transfer assets such as SOL, USDC, and USDT directly from FTX.
Though the wallet is still in beta, some users already suggest Phantom will give the market’s current leader, MetaMask, a run for its money.
