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Filipino startup Coins.ph is changing hands once again. The fintech platform which Indonesian giant Gojek acquired in 2019 has now been reportedly sold to the former CFO of cryptocurrency trading platform Binance for nearly $200 million. The news was first reported by The Ken.
According to The Ken’s sources, the buyer is Wei Zhou, who left Binance in June 2021.
Gojek bought Coins.ph from its founder Ron Hose in January 2019 for a reported sum of about $95 million. The startup started out as a digital wallet but has since expanded to offer other financial services including mobile loads, bill payments, public transport, and more.
Coins.ph was one of the first startups to offer a crypto wallet in the region but its recent services skews more toward consumer finance services. Analysts, including The Ken writer, sees this latest acquisition as a way for the company to go back to its crypto roots in an effort to bank on the nascent crypto industry in the Philippines.
Speaking to TechCrunch after Coins.ph’s acquisition by Gojek in 2019, Hose said, “We had to make a decision on how we want to continue growing our business, and we felt like ultimately together with Go-Jek we could build something that is overall bigger and better for our customers.”
Hose exited Coins.ph in 2020 and is now a partner in Singapore-based venture capital firm Wavemaker Partners.
In February 2022, Coins.ph announced its integration with Ronin, an Ethereum sidechain created for Axie Infinity making it possible for users to deposit their tokens used in the play-to-earn game faster and with lower fees. It also allows players to move their in-game currency to their Coins.ph wallets through the mobile app or web platform.
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