Yesterday banking app Dave announced that it has partnered with FTX US, the U.S. affiliate of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The exchange’s $2 billion venture fund FTX Ventures has invested $100 million in the banking app.
Dave plans to use the investment to fund its growth and future initiatives, including its entry into the digital assets industry. The banking app is exploring ways to introduce crypto payments to its platform with FTX US acting as its exclusive crypto partner.
“We consistently look to align with companies that share our vision, have unique and disruptive business models, and can help drive widespread adoption of digital assets. Dave is a great fit as they check all three boxes,” said FTX US President, Brett Harrison. “We see significant growth opportunities ahead for both of our companies and are excited to be working with Dave.”
Dave claims to have 11 million members with 6 million in the U.S., though only approximately 1.5 million were active each month in the fourth quarter of 2021. Although Dave is a banking app, it is not a chartered bank.
FTX and its U.S. affiliate already offer FTX Pay, a crypto payments processor that allows users to receive crypto and fiat payments. Earlier this month FTX partnered with online payments company Stripe to use Stripe’s new crypto payment services and its identity verification know your customer (KYC) tools.
In January FTX announced that it had raised a $400 million Series C funding at a $32 billion valuation, with FTX US separately raising a $400 million Series A at an $8 billion valuation the week before. At a combined $40 billion valuation the companies surpassed Coinbase which had a market capitalization of $38 billion at the time.
Recently FTX has been expanding globally, entering both Dubai and Australia this month as well as establishing a European affiliate company, FTX Europe.
