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Reown (ex WalletConnect) has closed a Series B funding round of 13 million dollars to further improve onchain UX. The idea is to reduce friction with its products that have become solutions overlapping traditional finance, decentralized finance, and fintech.
Summary
WalletConnect and the $13 Million Funding to Improve Onchain UX
Reown, ex WalletConnect, announced that it has closed the Series B funding round of 13 million dollars, thus obtaining a total funding of 38 million dollars.
“Today we are excited to announce our Series B of 13 million dollars to build the future of onchain UX! This brings our total funding to 38 million dollars.”
The round was led by USV and 1kx and saw the participation of Global Digital Asset Holdings, Shopify Ventures, Kraken Ventures, Crypto.com Capital, Figment, Kiln, Everstake, BitGo Ventures, and Fenbushi.
This new funding will be used by the company to further develop its onchain UX platform, through its SDKs – Reown AppKit and Reown WalletKit.
We remind you that Reown remains one of the main developers of the WalletConnect network, which has surpassed 220 million connections with over 35 million users globally.
Today the network facilitates over 20 million monthly connections, for more than 5 million monthly users. The WalletConnect Foundation recently announced the decentralization of the network, through the addition of third-party node operators and launched the WalletConnect token (WCT).
WalletConnect and the solutions that overlap traditional finance, DeFi, and fintech
In general, Reown (or WalletConnect) is an open-source tool that allows a mobile wallet to connect to blockchain-based dApps.
Now, with the increase in traditional financial services offering crypto payments, there is a rise in demand for a better onchain UX. In this way, payment providers can reduce friction between various finances.
The Reown products in the onchain UX are considered as solutions where traditional finance, DeFi, and fintech overlap.
In this regard, Jess Houlgrave, CEO of Reown, stated:
“The WalletConnect network has long been the essential bridge connecting wallets, apps, and users. Now we are entering the next phase of growth, where the network will also serve as a bridge for the traditional financial system. As we approach the “iPhone moment” for cryptocurrencies, there is still an urgent need for transformative improvements in onchain user experiences. I am proud that so many investors from both Web 2 and Web 3 recognize this potential and have chosen to support Reown’s mission. Together, through our contributions to the WalletConnect network and the expansion of our product offerings, we aim to make blockchain technology as intuitive and seamless as possible for everyone.”
Last July, Jess Houlgrave also responded to an interview with The Cryptonomist.
The products AppKit and WalletKit
With other posts on X, Reown also wanted to highlight the two products of AppKit and WalletKit points.
“AppKit has seen an enormous evolution over the past year, expanding its offering to @solana and @Bitcoin to accelerate the multichain mission. It powers applications like @JupiterExchange, @DriftProtocol, and @MarinadeFinance, as well as seamless encryption solutions for partners like @RaiseApp.
WalletKit enjoys the trust of over 600 wallets, including @TrustWallet, @BinanceWallet, @BitgetWallet, @cryptocom, @wallet, and @FireblocksHQ. Its Chain Abstraction Roadmap and gas abstraction initiatives are removing barriers such as chain swapping and gas complexity for users.”
In practice, Reown AppKit allows developers to engage millions of users in just a few minutes thanks to tools like embedded wallets, smart accounts, and user-friendly features such as paid sponsorships, swaps, and on-ramp.
Recently, AppKit has become a multichain solution by adding support first to Solana and then to Bitcoin. Also, Telegram has added AppKit to its MiniApps so that it can be used by its 950 million users.
Reown WalletKit is, instead, the industry standard toolkit for designing innovative UX for wallets.
Used by over 600 wallets including Trust Wallet, OKX Wallet, Binance Web3 Wallet, Bitget Wallet, Crypto.com Onchain and Fireblocks, it provides tools, libraries, and APIs to simplify the process of connecting wallets to decentralized applications.
One of the main goals of WalletKit is the “Chain Abstraction Roadmap”, recently announced, which outlines three phases to drastically improve the UX of Onchain, eliminating chain swap and bridge blocks.