Coinshares invests in Blockchain payments app MENAPay

CoinShares Ventures has invested in MenaPay a Blockchain based Mobile application for payments with offices in Turkey and UAE. MenaPay is on a mission to become the largest digital finance platform serving the 18 countries and 400 million people who live in the region. UNLOCK had previously interviewed the founder and CEO of MENAPay to learn about their expansion plans.  

Over the last year, the Turkish government has been making strides to open up the FinTech ecosystem, and has introduced a new e-Money licence which allows companies to provide these services to consumers.Turkish consumers are accustomed to owning dollars and gold, both in their bank accounts and in physical form, but don’t have an easy way to spend in dollars on a day to day basis unless they visit local money-changers, called döviz.

MenaPay is targeting a key segment in Turkey — digital consumers who don’t have a dollar-denominated wallet, but consume dollar-denominated services. The platform lets consumers purchase digital items like game codes, Google Play gift cards, Apple Store gift cards, their Twitch account, and other digital items in the app with MenaCash, the native token which is pegged to the dollar. Users can transfer money 24/7 and make payments in seconds, buy and sell cryptocurrencies, and store and manage a wide variety of assets.

MenaPay aims to be the first regional “SuperApp” that offers brings finance, entertainment, and social networking together in one app and to allow people to transact seamlessly via their phones, connecting the disparate digital banking ecosystems across the region. Users can gain access to MenaCash both offline through a reseller network of brick and mortar establishments or the app itself.

According to Coinshares Ventures, " This is our first investment in a Turkish FinTech company, which we believe has a number of criteria that make it a fantastic market for innovative new FinTech solutions. Over the last few months of working with MenaPay’s CEO, Cagla Senkardes, we have been consistently impressed with her tireless focus on growing the business, product development, and her unwavering dedication to the MenaPay vision. We are excited to support Cagla and the MenaPay team as they build digital finance tools for the Turkish market."