Russian travel app Maps.me gets $50 million to add digital wallet

Russian travel app Maps.me gets $50 million to add digital wallet

Maps.me, an offline travel app that includes both routes and local business recommendations, has raised $50 million to add a multi-currency wallet to its platform. Led by Alameda Research, the round was joined by two cryptocurrency investors, Genesis Capital and CMS Holdings. Investors hope that by embedding decentralized finance (DeFi) into an “everyday app”, Maps.me could make it more mainstream. The new features will allow the 140 million users to both make payments and investments. The goal is to avoid high foreign exchange rates and allow travel bookings with “near-zero” fees. Ironically it’s hard to track the mapping company’s location: originally Russian, registered in Cyprus, temporarily owned by Amsterdam-based Russian company Mail.ru, then recently sold to Daegu Limited for a little over €17 million.

Image from Maps.me 

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