Offline mapping app Maps.me has raised $50 million in a funding round led by quantitative trading firm Alameda Research. The funding was launched with the goal of creating a DeFi ecosystem within the map app. Maps.me had also corrected previous reports that stated this was a seed round, when in fact, it is “an investment into the embedded DeFi ecosystem.”
Multi-Currency Wallet in Maps.me
Genesis Capital and CMS Holdings also partook in the funding round.
According to a pressrelease, Maps.me will have a multi-currency wallet that will integrate hotel bookings with DeFi tools. The map app has almost 140 million users worldwide, making it one of the most popular of its kind.
The purpose of this venture is to build an embedded multi-currency wallet inside Maps.me, which in combination, will give travel guides and map settings that enable users to strive in yield-earning finance and earn cashback via purchases through the wallet.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and CEO of Alameda Research and crypto exchange FTX, had said that installing and democratizing ways to yield-earning finance to millions of people via a regular app will likely have a prosperous future. He added that Maps.me will literally drive DeFi mainstream performance and give groundbreaking technology to the industry.
Alex Grebnev, the co-founder of Maps.me 2.0, had also stated that the company is eager to be working with the partners to build a DeFi ecosystem on a platform that will develop services that are firmly associated with financial requirements.
Possibility to Store Value and Get Yields
The company had also shared about a possible chance to put value and get yields of up to eight percent. In addition, users will be able to exchange funds with no secret expenses, as well as send money and pay in various currencies for cross-border travel.
The move aims to eliminate mediators and banks by allowing users to store and earn formulas that will yield them up to 8%. Earnings yield applies to the profits per share in a business period, broken by the current share value. This move will is expected to give its users the facility to swap an extensive array of assets that are not restricted or defined by terrestrial borders or transaction scope.
On the same day of the fund-raising announcement, BitMax also shared the scheduled listing of MAPS.
Maps.me has raised $50 million to embed decentralized finance services for its users.
Alameda Research led the funding round. Genesis Trading and CMS Holdings also participated.
Maps.me is an offline mapping application with over 140 million users, so the upgrade bodes well for wider DeFi adoption.
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Maps.me is integrating DeFi for its 140 million users. Ahead of the overhaul, the travel app raised $50 million in a funding round led by Alameda Research.
Maps.me Makes DeFi Move
Maps.me, an offline mapping app with more than 140 million users, has raised $50 million to transition into DeFi.
The application will create a wallet that merges DeFi tools, enabling users to store assets, exchange value in multiple currencies, and earn up to 8%. Alex Grebnev, Maps.me’s co-founder, said:
“The industry is waiting for a catalyst for the mass adoption of DeFi tools and we’re excited to make this a reality by leveraging our active user base as a means to bootstrap a retail community for a new innovative DeFi platform on Maps.me.”
Maps.me is a mobile app that provides detailed offline maps worldwide. It’s frequently used by people who are preparing to travel abroad. A DeFi integration is potentially highly disruptive as it eliminates the need for high foreign exchange fees and commissions.
Grebnev told Crypto Briefing that he thinks digital currencies have certain advantages over cash.
“There are many benefits to choosing digital assets over cash, including lower fees, highly secure transactions, and fewer exchange rate issues,” he said. “Today, more and more companies accept digital assets for goods and services.”
The Coronavirus pandemic has had a big impact on global travel, and by extension, companies like Maps.me. Nevertheless, Grebnev says that international travel is likely to return, in his opinion. He also argued that bespoke wallet services like those that Maps.me offers will help people manage their finances after the pandemic has passed. He said:
“Embedded wallet services that enable consumers to make payments, generate yield, invest, and save on purchases – will be important in helping [people] manage their financial lives regardless of the coronavirus.”
Alameda Research Signals Support
Though Genesis Capital and CMS Holdings participated in the $50 million funding round, it was led by Alameda Research, the quantitative trading firm led by renowned crypto personality Sam Bankman-Fried.
In Maps.me’s press release announcing the news, Bankman-Fried pointed to the potential “killer app” effect the wallet could have for DeFi.
“By embedding and democratizing access to yield-earning finance to millions of users via an everyday app, Maps.me has the potential to really propel DeFi mainstream adoption and bring a groundbreaking technology to the masses.”
Decentralized finance has grown at an exponential rate in the last year. Since January 2020, the total number of DeFi users has increased from 600,000 to 1 million. But the idea of a “killer app” has been elusive to date. DeFi is still considered a niche area of the cryptocurrency space, with Bitcoin, and to a lesser extent Ethereum, driving the narrative.
Joseph Todaro, a partner at Greymatter Capital, recently highlighted the Google trends for the search terms “Bitcoin,” “Ethereum,” and “DeFi.” By some distance, Bitcoin is still the most searched for term of the three.
you see that nonexistent line down there
that is defi
we are still early pic.twitter.com/RAB4Q0Ah77
— Joseph Todaro (@JosephTodaro_) January 17, 2021
But with Maps.me catering to millions of users, it could be the spark that starts a move towards wider DeFi adoption. Of the app’s 140 million users, 70% are between the ages of 18 and 40. Last year, 60 million people used the app across 195 countries.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this feature owned ETH, among a number of other cryptocurrencies.
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Leading offline mapping application Maps.me has conducted a $50 million seed funding round to embed decentralized finance tools onto its platform.
The funding round for “Maps.me 2.0” was led by Sam Bankman-Fried of Alameda Research and also featured participation from crypto venture heavyweights CMS Holdings and Genesis Capital.
Maps.me 2.0 will be a wide-ranging application, featuring travel guides, hotel bookings and mapping services, in addition to exchange features and a multicurrency crypto-asset wallet offering annual yields of up to 8%.
Alex Grebnev, the co-founder of Maps.me 2.0, told Cointelegraph that users will be able to “generate yield on their savings by directly lending it out securely to borrowers.”
“We also plan to give our users the ability to trade a wide range of assets that are not limited by geographical boundaries or transaction size.”
Maps.me claims to be the first “mainstream app” to embrace DeFi, with the application boasting a user base of more than 140 million after eight years of operation. Around 60 million users were active in 2020. Bankman-Fried said:
“By embedding and democratizing access to yield-earning finance to millions of users via an everyday app, Maps.me has the potential to really propel DeFi mainstream adoption and bring a groundbreaking technology to the masses.”
The announcement states the platform intends to “break down financial silos determined by nationality or net worth” through its DeFi integrations. Grebnev further explained:
“The industry is waiting for a catalyst for the mass adoption of DeFi tools and we’re excited to make this a reality by leveraging our active userbase as a means to bootstrap a retail community for a new innovative DeFi platform on Maps.me.”
“Our long-term vision is to create an embedded platform that combines a broad range of financial services that provide an easier way to invest, pay, and travel. We see the ability to bundle things like foreign exchange, investing, credit card, and peer-to-peer payment services — with low fees, no hidden costs, and strong loyalty incentives,” he added.
Maps.me was launched in 2012 under its old name MapsWithMe and was acquired by Mail.ru for roughly $14 million in 2014. On Nov. 2, 2020, Daegu Limited, a member of Grebnev’s Parity.com Group, purchased the app for nearly $20 million.
Grebnev told Cointelegraph that Parity acquired Maps.me with the objective of building “an ecosystem that integrated DeFi tools with a platform that had a large user base.”
