Solana-Focused Wallet Phantom Raises $150M, Eyes Expansion Beyond Crypto
Phantom, the popular cryptocurrency wallet that rose to prominence alongside the Solana network, has announced a $150 million Series C funding round co-led by Sequoia Capital and Paradigm, with participation from existing investors including a16z crypto and Variant, the company said on Thursday..
This investment, which values Phantom at $3 billion, signifies a significant turning point for the company as it sets its sights on the wider consumer finance market.
"Our mission has always been to make crypto more accessible, intuitive, and safe for everyone. This latest round of funding allows us to invest further in innovation and ultimately, modernize consumer finance," Brandon Millman, Phantom co-founder and CEO, said.
The $150 million in new funding will fuel Phantom’s expansion beyond the crypto space and support its vision of building a next-generation consumer finance platform. The company plans to increase strategic partnerships and acquisitions, building on previous acquisitions of Bitski and Blowfish, which focused on bolstering wallet infrastructure and security.
Phantom also intends to invest in innovative social discovery features around its 3.8 million usernames and simplify peer-to-peer payments, indicating a clear focus on enhancing user experience and expanding functionality. This strategic direction suggests Phantom’s ambition to compete directly with established players in the traditional finance sector.
Phantom’s trajectory has been closely linked to the rise of Solana. Known for its high transaction speeds and low fees, Solana attracted a vibrant community of developers and users, and Phantom quickly established itself as a leading wallet within this burgeoning ecosystem, offering a user-friendly interface for managing Solana-based assets and interacting with decentralized applications (dApps). This close association with Solana has been a key driver of Phantom’s growth and adoption.
The company boasts impressive metrics, including 15 million monthly active users, demonstrating significant market penetration. Phantom also facilitates substantial on-chain activity, with $20 billion in annual swap volume and 850 million on-chain transactions processed. The high level of user engagement is further evidenced by an average of 12 app opens per day, indicating regular use for various financial activities, and $25 billion in self-custody assets held within Phantom wallets, Phantom said.
In recent months, Phantom has even outperformed competitors like MetaMask and Coinbase Wallet in key metrics such as active traders, trading revenue, and trading volume. This success is attributed to Phantom’s focus on self-custody, empowering users to maintain control of their assets, and providing access to millions of assets across multiple blockchains, a key differentiator from centralized exchanges.