EToro to acquire crypto wallet Zengo in $70 million deal
The acquisition ties in the retail trading platform with advanced wallet technology meant to help protect users’ assets.
What to know:
- Trading platform eToro is moving into self-custody with the acquisition of crypto wallet Zengo.
- The deal, estimated to be around $70 million, targets access to the growth in tokenized assets and decentralized trading models
- The acquisition ties in the retail trading platform with advanced wallet technology meant to help protect users’ assets.
A non-custodial wallet allows users to custody their own funds by controlling the keys to the wallet directly.
Zengo uses multi-party computation, or MPC, to secure user funds without a seed phrase, a design meant to reduce common risks tied to lost or stolen keys.
EToro said the deal will help it support newer crypto use cases such as tokenized assets and decentralized markets, including prediction platforms and perpetual futures.
“As we often say, crypto downtimes are the time to build and this acquisition reflects that long-term approach,” said eToro’s co-founder and CEO Yoni Assia.
Zengo, founded in 2018, offers features including token swaps, staking and fiat onramps. It reports more than 2 million users globally. Its wallet will remain separate from eToro’s regulated services, with users interacting directly with third-party protocols, according to Wednesday’s announcement.
The acquisition is subject to closing conditions. An eToro spokesperson told CoinDesk terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed though Bloomberg reported it to be worth around $70 million.
