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Crypto-to-Fiat App P2P.me Raises $2M from Multicoin and Coinbase Ventures

Published

6 месяцев ago

4 апреля, 2025

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Bitcoin’s original promise of «peer-to-peer electronic cash» hasn’t exactly developed in the way Satoshi intended. More people than ever are eager to pay in crypto, while most vendors want nothing but fiat.

While the mismatch has plenty of workarounds in countries with a strong banking and credit card culture, it’s a real problem in places with alternative electronic payment rails, like QR codes, says pseudonymous crypto developer Sheldon Cooper. How can one scan a fiat-only code and pay in stablecoins?

Cooper’s claimed solution, P2P.me, does it without ever touching the regular on-and-off ramps. Instead, this blockchain-based service relies on a network of middlemen willing to accept USDC from, say, Alice and send the equivalent fiat along to Bob. The whole process takes about 90 seconds, he said.

There are no traditional identity checks, either. P2P.me vets its users with zero-knowledge proofs that checks for a real-seeming social media presence and maybe even for a government ID. But it doesn’t store this personal data as would most financial institutions from banks on down to Binance.

«What we thought about is, ‘How do we decentralize this? How do we do on and off rams in a decentralized way,'» said Cooper. «The number one concern is privacy and self custody. All these CEXes give data to the government.»

P2P.me’s quirky blend of permissionless markets and privacy tech has processed $1.6 million in payments from around 1,100 users, mostly in Indonesia, Nigeria and Vietnam. That modest amount, quickly growing, was enough to get venture capitalists’ interest: Multicoin Capital and Coinbase Ventures recently invested $2 million P2P.me’s seed round.

The money’s already helped P2P.me scale its team to 20 people ahead of a planned push into Latin America, Cooper said. He sees local communities that struggle to navigate established financial rails as key adopters. So too are crypto-savvy tourists who go places where their credit cards don’t work, but their cell phones do.

Built on Base, the open protocol plans to launch a token in the next 12 months that will shift control to the community, according to Cooper.

«The strategic idea of the token is to scale globally, to break the network effects of the centralized exchange with P2P,» he said.

Business

Crypto Trading Firm Keyrock Buys Luxembourg’s Turing Capital in Asset Management Push

Published

19 часов ago

16 сентября, 2025

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Crypto trading firm Keyrock said it’s expanding into asset and wealth management by acquiring Turing Capital, a Luxembourg-registered alternative investment fund manager.

The deal, announced on Tuesday, marks the launch of Keyrock’s Asset and Wealth Management division, a new business unit dedicated to institutional clients and private investors.

Keyrock, founded in Brussels, Belgium and best known for its work in market making, options and OTC trading, said it will fold Turing Capital’s investment strategies and Luxembourg fund management structure into its wider platform. The division will be led by Turing Capital co-founder Jorge Schnura, who joins Keyrock’s executive committee as president of the unit.

The company said the expansion will allow it to provide services across the full lifecycle of digital assets, from liquidity provision to long-term investment strategies. «In the near future, all assets will live onchain,» Schnura said, noting that the merger positions the group to capture opportunities as traditional financial products migrate to blockchain rails.

Keyrock has also applied for regulatory approval under the EU’s crypto framework MiCA through a filing with Liechtenstein’s financial regulator. If approved, the firm plans to offer portfolio management and advisory services, aiming to compete directly with traditional asset managers as well as crypto-native players.

«Today’s launch sets the stage for our longer-term ambition: bringing asset management on-chain in a way that truly meets institutional standards,» Keyrock CSO Juan David Mendieta said in a statement.

Business

Crypto Trading Firm Keyrock Buys Luxembourg’s Turing Capital in Asset Management Push

Published

19 часов ago

16 сентября, 2025

admin

Crypto trading firm Keyrock said it’s expanding into asset and wealth management by acquiring Turing Capital, a Luxembourg-registered alternative investment fund manager.

The deal, announced on Tuesday, marks the launch of Keyrock’s Asset and Wealth Management division, a new business unit dedicated to institutional clients and private investors.

Business

Gemini Shares Slide 6%, Extending Post-IPO Slump to 24%

Published

19 часов ago

16 сентября, 2025

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Gemini Space Station (GEMI), the crypto exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has seen its shares tumble by more than 20% since listing on the Nasdaq last Friday.

The stock is down around 6% on Tuesday, trading at $30.42, and has dropped nearly 24% over the past week. The sharp decline follows an initial surge after the company raised $425 million in its IPO, pricing shares at $28 and valuing the firm at $3.3 billion before trading began.

On its first day, GEMI spiked to $45.89 before closing at $32 — a 14% premium to its offer price. But since hitting that high, shares have plunged more than 34%, erasing most of the early enthusiasm from public market investors.

The broader crypto equity market has remained more stable. Coinbase (COIN), the largest U.S. crypto exchange, is flat over the past week. Robinhood (HOOD), which derives part of its revenue from crypto, is down 3%. Token issuer Circle (CRCL), on the other hand, is up 13% over the same period.

Part of the pressure on Gemini’s stock may stem from its financials. The company posted a $283 million net loss in the first half of 2025, following a $159 million loss in all of 2024. Despite raising fresh capital, the numbers suggest the business is still far from turning a profit.

Compass Point analyst Ed Engel noted that GEMI is currently trading at 26 times its annualized first-half revenue. That multiple — often used to gauge whether a stock is expensive — means investors are paying 26 dollars for every dollar the company is expected to generate in sales this year. For a loss-making company in a volatile sector, that’s a steep price, and could be fueling investor skepticism.