Tembusu raises S$1.2m for cryptocurrency development
Singapore
THE homegrown cryptocurrency startup which launched Asia's first Bitcoin ATM in Singapore a year ago announced on Thursday that it has raised S$1.2 million in bridge funding, taking the value of the company to some S$11 million.
The funding secured by Tembusu Systems - formerly known as Tembusu Terminals - includes a "million-dollar vote of confidence" from a Singapore mainboard-listed, bluechip company that has declined to be named, The Business Times has learnt.
The money will be used for product and business development, and to expand the capabilities and headcount of the team, said Jarrod Luo, co-founder and chief operating officer of Tembusu Systems.
The company has since recalled its four Bitcoin ATMs in Singapore, in order to focus on what is now its core product - the Trust platform, a software which makes the distributed blockchain (the technology behind cryptocurrency) available for use by organisations and individuals.
Trust also opens up fresh-use cases for cryptocurrency technology, courtesy of its innovative features, which, according to Tembusu, investors and businesses are keen to implement. Andras Kristof, Tembusu co-founder and chief executive officer, said: "Trust solves the key challenges of first-generation distributed blockchain technology that held it back from getting wide adoption. Our platform introduces proof-of-identity for accounts, which makes for better integration with existing systems and governments."
The platform will also include pre-paid wallets and a reputation system to improve user experience, he added.
The company's innovations take into account the lessons learnt from Bitcoin, which has faced difficulties in gaining traction in many countries because the complete anonymity it affords can be misused for criminal activities.
Bitcoin users also face the risk of irrecoverable losses if accounts are compromised or if data on their computers is destroyed. Trust, on the other hand, has a built-in system that enables account recovery.
While not a cryptocurrency in itself, Trust's technology enables governments and corporations to launch their own asset-backed cryptocurrencies, payment-processing systems, low-cost remittance services, cross-border loyalty-points systems and even banking and trade facilities for the region's estimated 300 million individuals without access to banking facilities, Tembusu said.
On the company's plans in the Bitcoin segment, COO Mr Luo said that with the four Bitcoin ATMs withdrawn, their infrastructure can still be re-purposed for the implementation of Tembusu's Trust technology.
The S$1.2 million in bridge funding, believed to be the first such funding by a listed company in the region, comes as governments and corporations are contemplating various levels of cryptocurrency adoption. The Monetary Authority of Singapore said last year that it would introduce regulations for virtual-currency intermediaries, which are expected to kick in some time in March.
