Singapore gets a leg up as global cryptocurrency hub as world's largest ethereum wallet moves in
IDG-backed digital currency wallet moving to Singapore to step up overseas expansion
Chinese start-up imToken, which claims to be the world’s largest ethereum wallet, is moving its global headquarters to Singapore to expand its global reach after a recent financing round from venture firm IDG Capital.
The company, which developed one of the first cryptocurrency wallet apps to support the Ethereum blockchain, sees global expansion as a top priority this year, with 70 per cent of its current user base still in China.
The app, which currently has about 4 million users, is aiming for more than 10 million by the end of the year – with about half coming from markets outside China.
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“With the new headquarters in Singapore, we hope to reach users in more countries,” Ben He, chief executive and founder of imToken and its parent company ConsenLabs, said in a recent interview.
Singapore, which He described as “friendly to blockchain technology”, has emerged as the up-and-coming destination for Chinese companies in the cryptocurrency industry in the wake of Beijing’s crackdown on digital currencies and initial coin offerings late last year. Bitmain, which operates the world’s largest mining collective, said earlier this year it was opening a regional headquarters in Singapore, while Huobi, a popular crypto currency exchange, also has operations in the city.
Originally founded in 2016 in Hangzhou, imToken said its early mover advantage has enabled its users to accumulate US$35 billion worth of crypto assets over the past year, equal to the size of a medium-size commercial bank in China.
The potential of the market is too big to estimate as more people start to use blockchain-enabled financial services