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Solana wallet Phantom acquires a16z-backed Bitski wallet platform

The BlockThe Block2024/05/21 13:31
By:The Block

Quick Take Phantom has acquired Bitski for an undisclosed sum. As part of the deal, Phantom will bring “embedded wallets” to Solana to simplify onboarding.

Phantom, the leading crypto wallet in the Solana SOL +1.75% ecosystem, has made its first acquisition by buying out Bitski, a wallet-as-a-service platform backed by high-profile investors, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Galaxy Digital.

"The Bitski team will be joining Phantom to bring embedded wallets to Solana, simplifying the onboarding process for both users and developers," Phantom said Tuesday. "The current Bitski products will be sunset in the coming months and users will be notified about next steps."

Talks between Phantom and Bitski began earlier this year, and the deal has already been completed with no pending approvals, Phantom co-founder and CEO Brandon Millman told The Block.

Bitski's team, including its co-founders, will join and expand Phantom's current team of over 80 people, Millman said. He declined to comment on Bitski's specific headcount, but the firm appears to have up to 50 employees, per its LinkedIn page.

While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, it appears to be significant. Bitski has raised at least $25.5 million in funding to date, according to data from The Block Pro's Funding Dashboard . Besides a16z and Galaxy Digital, Bitski's other top investors include Coinbase Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Kindred Ventures, American billionaire rapper Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and American former professional tennis player Serena Williams, per the dashboard.

Phantom, on the other hand, has raised a total of $118 million in funding to date and was valued at $1.2 billion in early 2022. Its investors include a16z, Paradigm, Solana Ventures, Variant and Alliance, per the dashboard. Millman said Phantom isn't planning to raise another funding round in the near future.

'Embedded wallets' to Solana

Founded in 2018, Bitski provides "embedded wallets" that can be integrated directly into applications or platforms. Embedded wallets allow users to access and manage their digital assets from within the app, providing a user-friendly experience. Phantom said Bitski's tools power several applications, games and Fortune 500 brands.

Now, as part of Bitski's acquisition, Phantom plans to bring embedded wallets to Solana for an easy onboarding experience similar to that of web2. "Easier user onboarding will also be coming to Phantom's existing self-custody wallet. Users will soon have the option to sign up and log in to Phantom using only their email address," Phantom said. "The change aims to seamlessly and safely onboard millions of new users to Solana."

Millman didn't have a particular timeline for when embedded wallets will be ready for Solana.

Phantom is one of, if not the most, widely used Solana wallets. The company claims to have more than doubled its users in the past three months to 7 million monthly active users.

"Wallets will be the most important consumer application over the next 20 years. The winner will have catered to today's users and prepared for billions more. We can't wait to make this happen at Phantom," Bitski co-founder and CEO Donnie Dinch said in a statement.


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Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.

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