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Former Revolut duo launch banking on blockchain startup

Two ex-Revolut employees have raised $2.3 million in pre-Seed funding to build Bleap, a self-custodial stablecoin app with an accompanying debit card.

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Former Revolut duo launch banking on blockchain startup

Editorial

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community.

Bleap provides a self-custodial wallet linked to a Mastercard debit card, letting users spend stablecoins directly in the real world without conversion fees. The app also supports multi-currency accounts with savings rates nearly 5x higher than traditional banks.

Users can add stablecoins from external wallets or purchase them with fiat. Bleap also supports fee-free crypto on- and off-ramping via external wallet connections.

Because Bleap doesn’t hold user funds, customers retain 24/7 access to their assets directly on the blockchain.

Bleap is founded by former Revolut employees Joao Alves and software engineering lead Guilherme Gomes.

“We wanted an app that combines blockchain’s power with the best of banking,” says Alves, who previously led Revolut’s card programme.

The funding round, at a pre-money valuation of $10 million, was led by Ethereal Ventures with support from Maven11, Alliance DAO, Robot Ventures, and angel investors from Revolut, Phantom, OKX, EigenLayer, and Consensys.

Incorporated in the UK and Poland and registered as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in the EU, Bleap is currently in beta with select European users. The full public launch is scheduled for Q1 2025.

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Comments: (1)

Hitesh Thakkar

Hitesh Thakkar Technology Evangelist (Financial Technology) at SME - Fintech startups (APAC and Africa)

What is the monetization model for this banking startup? Balance sheet will not show any interest earning, service fee income, not standard way of lending and deposits business?

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