It is clear that the regulator is not inclined to let private operators take over a payment technology that would rely on mobile telephony. Whether it’s for Facebook’s Diem (ex-Libra) or Telegram’s Gram, the various attempts have always been blocked by state authorities fearing for their monetary sovereignty.
However, an important alternative seems to be emerging. MobileCoin (MOB), supported by the pundits of the crypto sector led by Sam Bankman Fried, has just concluded a new fundraising.
Crypto and mobile, a technological no-brainer
MobileCoin was founded in 2017 by Joshua Goldbard, a veteran of the crypto ecosystem, under the guidance of Moxie Marlinspike, creator of the instant and encrypted messaging app Signal. A role of mere “advisor” that struggles to hide the obvious links between the two groups, and the connivance of their approaches to independence, freedom, and privacy preservation.
Relying on a team of cryptographic experts, the company has therefore developed its technology over several years, focusing on four major areas:
- Confidentiality, with an end-to-end encrypted public blockchain that, like Signal, allows only the parties to a transaction to see the details.
- Energy consumption, with an energy efficiency 4 million times higher than the “Proof of work” model, combined with a carbon footprint offset through the ClimeCo Green program, making MobileCoin the first carbo-negative crypto in the world.
- Transaction speed, with a consensus based on Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA), inherited from Stellar Lumens technology that promises near-instant validation and strong decentralization.
- Optimization for mobile devices with targeted development from the beginning that makes it very easy to recover a wallet lost through breakage or loss of media, since your private keys will never be stored or held by anyone but you.
A concept supported since the beginning by the star funders of the crypto ecosystem
Despite the legal setbacks that similar projects have experienced in the past, the idea of a token allowing peer-to-peer payments, instantly, securely, anonymously and without a trusted third party seems quite legitimate for the pillars of the sector. They have not hesitated to put their hands in their pockets during successive financing campaigns.
Back in 2018, MobileCoin (MOB) had raised a cool $30 million via the Binance Labs incubator on what was then, just a technological promise. Then, a new round of funding saw Future Ventures and General Catalyst add some 11.35 million dollars to the group’s treasury.
A few days ago, an additional $66 million was raised in a new Series B round of financing. Alameda Research, Coinbase Ventures and Blocktower Capital (to name but a few), came to massively strengthen the initiative that is already making emulation even outside the cryptosphere.
Indeed, since recently, the MOB token is exchanged via Signal in Beta version (in the UK only), but also on the private messaging system Mixin (China). More than a million transactions have already been made through the MOB token.
After injecting such a large amount of money, Sam Bankman-Fried was quick to add the MOB token to the list of assets available on FTX. Already more than 90% of the actual trading volumes are being done on the platform, guaranteeing investors a significant liquidity presence.
