An exchange that simplified interchangeability between multiple cryptocurrencies has received $1.6 million in new funding.
Dubbed as ShapeShift.io, the reputed and renowned cryptocurrency converter offers more than 35 altcoins, including the likes of Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Dash, Ripple, Clams, NuBits and many others. The exchange comes handy for users who wish to instantly hedge their primary cryptocurrency funds into some other altcoin, for various purposes.
For instance: NuBits is one of the only cryptocurrencies whose value is pegged to the dollar. In simple words, it is considered more stable than its 400 other counterparts. During the Bitcoin’s volatile times, a user might decided to hedge his funds into NuBits as a part of his risk management strategy. So instead of going through the tiresome KYC and AML requirements on other exchanges, he can simply opt ShapeShift to do the necessary conversion — within a click, with no account required.
This, perhaps, is one of the many reasons why ShapeShift has been able to attract a series of venture capitalists and angel investors towards itself. While the latest funding drew support from Digital Currency Group, Roger Ver and BitFinex, it received further assistance from angels investors like Bruce Fenton, Michael Terpin and Trevor Koverko.
ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees said that they would be channeling the funds to support development, improve liquidity and enable further scalability.
“It took a little coaxing as many Bitcoiner-investors aren’t sold on the concept of other cryptocurrencies,” he told CoinDesk. “Key to our raise, however, was the ability to demonstrate that tomorrow will be full of digital assets, of all different kinds, and such a future demands a frictionless exchange engine.”
In March 2015, ShapeShift had also received $525k in seed funding from Barry Silbert and Roger Ver. The new funding round marks Ver’s second-time association with the cryptocurrency exchange.