Cryptotech Startup Coinshift Raises Funds To Expand Offerings

2 In 10 Urban Indians Likely To Be Crypto Investors By Q1 2022: Report

SUMMARY

Coinshift, rebranded from MultiSafe, has raised $2.5 Mn in a seed round from Sequoia Capital India, Ryan Hoover, Longhash Ventures, Fintech Collective, among others

The startup aims to utilise the funds to scale and ‘solve for the three pillars of a treasury management solution — cash management, financing and risk management

With its ‘transaction batching’, Coinshift claims that it can help organisations save up to 90% gas fees

As the cryptocurrency and blockchain market gains significant momentum in India, ethereum-based cryptotech startup Coinshift has raised $2.5 Mn in a seed round. Investors in the seed round included Sequoia Capital India, Ryan Hoover of Product Hunt and Weekend Fund, Ethereal Ventures, Longhash Ventures, Fintech Collective, Consensys Mesh, Defi Alliance, Volt Capital, Gnosis, Protocol Labs, BR Capital among others.

Founded by CEO Tarun Gupta as MultiSafe in June 2021, the rebranded Coinshift is a software platform that helps individuals and businesses manage their crypto treasuries. According to a statement released by the startup, Coinshift has processed payouts worth $14 Mn, and holds $200 Mn in treasury assets.

The startup aims to utilise the funds to scale and ‘solve for the three pillars of a treasury management solution — cash management, financing and risk management.’ According to the founder, this would mean large investments in their technical and non-technical teams.

Coinshift Plans To Help Organisations Reduce Gas Fees

The startup offers features such as multi-signature wallets that allow different members of an organisation to collaborate and execute transactions and payroll management systems that help businesses save time and gas fees.

Just like cars need gasoline to work, all transactions and applications on the Ethereum network require ‘gas’. Everything on the Ethereum network costs a little gas: from checking the balance of an account to adding two numbers and making a transaction. The market price of this gas fluctuates based on the demand for resources on the network. With its ‘transaction batching’, Coinshift claims that it can help organisations save up to 90% gas fees.

Unlike other Indian crypto startups like Polygon and CoinDCX, Coinshift seems to have a laser-sharp focus on enabling crypto-based payroll transactions for its clients. Earlier this year, Polygon became the first Indian crypto startup to have crossed $13 Bn in market capitalisation, while CoinDCX became India’s first crypto unicorn.

Currently, organisations considering paying their employees in cryptocurrency face many obstacles including but not limited to; compliance issues, disproportionately large transaction fees, and clunky and disjoint methods of planning and recording crypto transactions

In this field, Coinshift has international competitors like Bitwage and Sablier which enable bulk international payment transactions using cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. These companies help integrate cryptocurrency transactions into traditional accounting practices.

Bitwage allows payment to be disbursed in many fiat and cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ether and DAI, while Sablier uses a money protocol built on ethereum to let organisations pay their workers in cryptocurrency.

If this new batch of crypto treasuries have their way, many of these obstacles will be removed from the path of the companies considering paying their employees in cryptocurrency. That would be a great leap towards legitimising decentralised assets.