Former Revolut Employees Raise $2.3M for Bleap

Two former Revolut employees, Joao Alves and Guilherme Gomes, have secured $2.3 million in pre-seed funding to launch Bleap.

This self-custodial stablecoin application is integrated with a Mastercard debit card.

We’ve raised $2.3M in pre-seed funding to build Bleap—a bank on the blockchain! ????
The round was led by @etherealvc, with participation from @Maven11Capital, @alliancedao, @robotventures, @CrediblyNeutral , and other amazing investors who share our vision of a better financial… pic.twitter.com/xR2cdNsIiO
— Bleap | web3 card ???? (@BleapApp) November 28, 2024

This funding round valued Bleap at $10 million before the investment. Ethereal Ventures led the round, with participation from Maven11, Alliance DAO, Robot Ventures, and several notable angel investors from Revolut, Phantom, and Consensys.

Bleap integrates blockchain technology with banking, offering multi-currency accounts, competitive savings rates, and fee-free crypto on- and off-ramping. Users can spend stablecoins without conversion fees and purchase them with fiat currency. Funds are stored securely on the blockchain and accessible 24/7. The app is beta testing with European users and will launch in Q1 2025.

Alves, who previously led Revolut’s Card Programme, stated,

“We wanted an app that combines blockchain’s power with the best of banking.”

Bleap is incorporated in the UK and Poland and is a registered Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in the EU.

Bleap’s team encountered challenges integrating public blockchain technology with traditional payment systems like Mastercard, facing regulatory hurdles that caused delays. Despite this, Alves is optimistic about the future of crypto payments. The payment process is user-friendly: Bleap verifies sufficient stablecoin balance, approves the transaction, and settles with Mastercard by converting stablecoins to fiat. Unlike other crypto cards, Bleap simplifies the experience by eliminating prior crypto-to-fiat conversion, reducing fees and streamlining spending.

Meanwhile, DeFi protocol Sky, formerly known as Maker, has launched its stablecoin USDS on the Solana blockchain, marking it as Solana’s first primary DeFi-native stablecoin. Announced on November 19, this initiative aims to enhance lending, borrowing, and trading within the Solana ecosystem, boosting DeFi liquidity and total value locked (TVL). USDS, formerly called Dai (DAI), is designed to maintain a 1:1 value with the US dollar, adding significant depth to Solana’s decentralized finance landscape.

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