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Iceland's blockchain Monerium startup closed a $ 2 million seed seed round, led by the Nordic fund VC and Crowberry Capital, with the participation of New York-based blockchain software company ConsenSys and Hof Holdings. The Monerium will use the proceeds from the seed round to accelerate the development of its services, the company said on Friday.
Founded in 2016 by a team of serial, academic and financial entrepreneurs and central bank veterans, Monerium aims to "make the currency accessible, secure and easy to negotiate … by issuing amortized, redeemable, and managed on blockchain electronic money." has applied to become a fully licensed financial institution throughout the European Union through a wholly owned subsidiary.
"The Monerium has a clear vision to link fiat and blockchain money, it was when we worked with ConsenSys shortly after the launch of Ethereum, that we first identified electronic money as a key catalyst for the adoption of the traditional blockchain ", explained Sveinn Valfells, CEO of Monerium.
"Becoming an authorized financial institution is the next fundamental step for Monerium in order to assume full responsibility and control over the full range of functions necessary to issue electronic money on blockchains: asset management, compliance, risk management and product development. .
"Drawing on our extensive experience in financial services and technology, we are confident that we can enable our customers to securely and efficiently store and transmit funds on blockchain, whether authorized or without permission."
The investment of ConsenSys in Monerium is one of the first investments facilitated by Coven, a new open co-venture initiative. Commenting on the Monerium agreement, Andrew Keys, co-founder of ConsenSys Capital, said:
"ConsenSys is committed to supporting companies in building the necessary infrastructure for a more decentralized and self-sufficient future: the work of the Monerium in tokenizing currencies throughout Europe is an exciting venture we are happy to be a part of."
Headquartered in Reykjavik and 14 employees in Iceland, Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom, Monerium began in September 2016 with the objective of providing legal tender on Ethereum's blockchain. According to the company, the introduction of blockchain and decentralization into the financial system could help prevent systemic financial crises.
"In Iceland, in 2008, a centralized financial system collapsed and almost caused a systemic economic crisis:" too big to fail "banking institutions constituted a single point of weakness for deposits, loans and payments. 2008, global finance still largely depends on centralized institutions and systems and there remains a distinct lack of competition, "said Jon Helgi Egilsson, president of Monerium and former president of the Icelandic central bank.
"We believe that the solution is to achieve greater decentralization By becoming an electronic, asset-backed, regulated and repayable supplier for blockchain, Monerium will help decentralize global finance, which will offer customers more options to store and send electronic money , while supporting financial stability. "
