Cryptocurrency wallet provider Zengo has acquired stablecoin-focused wallet Minke to expand its user base.
Zengo co-founder and CEO Ouriel Ohayon told The Block that discussions on the deal began less than a month ago, making the acquisition happen quickly. “Minke was looking for a new home for its users and it was a good match,” Ohayon said.
Minke was looking for a new home for its users because co-founder and CEO Josh Reyes wanted to focus on another venture, OpenPeer Labs, which is developing a decentralized peer-to-peer exchange, he told The Block. Reyes said Zengo was a good choice because of its security measures and retail-focused approach.
What is mink?
Minke was founded in Australia in 2021 and at its peak had about 50,000 users of its self-managed wallet, Reyes said. As part of the deal, Zengo aims to onboard Minke’s users onto its platform and grow its current user base to more than 1 million.
Because Minke operates as a self-managed wallet, users can use their own seed phrase to transfer to other wallets. However, Ohayon and Reyes are optimistic that most Minke users will switch to Zengo.
“Most of our users are using Minke as their first cryptocurrency wallet and will need migration support,” Reyes said, adding that “they will be strongly pushed and guided to migrate to Zengo.”
Minke will discontinue the wallet and brand as part of the deal. Android apps are already facing problems. Reyes added that Minke removed the listing from Google due to certain privacy measures it implemented for migration tracking, and that Minke is addressing the situation. In the meantime, existing users can still access the app.
Zengo’s first acquisition
Ohayon and Reyes did not disclose terms of the deal, but it appears to be a small deal. Reyes added that Minke has raised just $650,000 in its 2022 pre-seed funding round, and that investors will receive proceeds through the acquisition.
Minke had a small team of five people, all of whom switched to OpenPeer and will not be joining Zengo, Reyes said.
Zengo was founded in Israel in 2018 and is backed by high-profile investors including Insight Partners, Austin Rief Ventures, and Samsung Next. Last year, the company was planning to raise $10 million at a $100 million valuation, The Block reported at the time. Eventually, funding was raised, but the amount of funding or valuation was not disclosed.
Minke is Zengo’s first acquisition, and Ohayon is open to more deals. He said there are many smaller players, and for that, Zengo could raise another funding round in the next 12 to 18 months.
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