xDai Payment Network Raises $500K in Seed Funding From Leading Crypto VCs
Payment ecosystem xDai has secured $500,000 in seed funding from a string of leading crypto funds. Development of the stablecoin-based payment system was initiated by POA Network in 2018 with the goal of supporting a variety of stablecoins on dedicated sidechains. The recently closed seed round was led by B-Tech — the investment joint venture of BitMax.io and Focus Labs — together with blockchain VC firms Bixin Invest and NGC.
“Our thesis is strongly focused on real usage, not just speculation. xDai places strong emphasis on UX and private transactions, which is exactly what users need,” commmented a B-Tech spokesperson, adding “We are excited to be working together to advance payment adoption.”
xDai is the first seed investment from the newly launched B-Tech fund. “We are keen on supporting the efficiency of the ETH ecosystem and helping it advance the global payment process for everyone,” stated BitMax CEO George Cao after the deal was announced. The successful completion of the seed round will accelerate development of the xDai Stable Chain and further merchant adoption of the stablecoin-based protocol.
POA Network and MakerDao are among the 10 validators securing the xDai Stable Chain, with further validators set to be added to further decentralize the network. Burner Wallet, Poketto, AlphaWallet, DEX Wallet, Nifty Wallet, Status, Portis, Wallet Core, MetaMask Mobile and Discordtip Bot have already added support for xDai Chain, with further integrations to come. In addition to supporting stablecoins DAI, USDT, RSV and others, which can be locked on the Ethereum chain to create an “x” equivalent on the xDai Stable Chain, the project will have a native utility token, DPOS, that provides staking on the network, including its various sidechains.
“xDai is the missing catalyst for mass adoption of current-day stablecoins, making them fast-and-easy-to-use at stable fees,” stated a member of Bixin, which also participated in the seed round. “We see great potential in this great project and are more than excited to see the changes it will bring to the industry.” This sentiment was echoed by Roger Lim, Founding Partner at NGC Ventures, who noted that “xDai solves the price volatility and scalability issues of blockchain adoption with its Ethereum side-chain that executes smart contracts very quickly, privately and affordably.”
Commenting on the development work taking place, xDai founder Igor Barinov said: “At ETH Denver we witnessed the biggest crypto pop-up economy, powered by xDai and Burner Wallet. We’re now further developing interoperable bridges, enabling a global payments ecosystem. We believe that xDai’s focus on Layer 2 and a user-first approach can really make a difference in advancing real-world adoption of cryptocurrencies.”
P2P and private payments, subscription services, blockchain banking and vendor stable payments are among the primary use cases envisioned for xDai, with the goal of furthering real world adoption of blockchain technology while competing with the incumbent crypto payment processors.
