SBI Group Invests $15 Million in ‘Smart Card’ Wallet Manufacturer

‘Smart card’ crypto wallet manufacturer Tangem has received a $15 million investment from major Japanese financial services firm SBI Group, Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reports on April 24. The new investment will purportedly allow Tangem to relocate its headquarters to the ‘Crypto Valley’ of Zug, Switzerland.

From Zug, Tangem want to develop new use cases for its physical smart cards that function like the hardware wallet version of banknotes. Each of these smart cards carries a fixed amount of cryptocurrency. The company intends for these smart cards to be used for daily crypto payments. Andrey Kurennykh, Tangem’s CEO said:

“It is the main mission of Tangem to bring the application of blockchain technology to people’s everyday lives. Our technology can help many industries really benefit from blockchain tech and make the life of individuals safer and better through financial inclusion and access to decentralized payment solutions”.

The startup was co-founded by the former head of UBS's Moscow branch, Anselm Schmucki, and claims to combine Swiss financial know-how with Russian IT expertise. Under the leadership of CEO Andrey Kurennykh, the company employs 13 people in Switzerland, Russia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Currently, the startup is working on the application of Tangem notes, and has produced and sold over 25,000 wallets for individuals and companies such as Cardano and RSK.

Tangem carried out the first pilot sale of its card wallets in the spring of 2018. In January 2019, Tangem reportedly came to an agreement with the government of the Marshall Islands to issue physical banknotes for the Sovereign (SOV), the state digital currency of the Marshall Islands.