Gojek, a ride-hailing startup, recently acquired digital wallet company Coins.ph, based in the Philippines. The acquired fintech company apparently also provides a cryptocurrency trading platform, such as Bitcoin.
In the official Gojek statement, the Go-Pay payment system platform will work with Coin.ph in a non-cash payment scheme.
"Today's announcement marks the start of our long-term commitment in the Philippines and the continuation of our mission to use technology to improve everyday life and create positive social impacts," said Nadiem Makarim, founder and CEO of Go-Jek,
Coins.ph was founded in 2014 and is led by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Ron Hose. Coins.ph is a startup that provides services that allow users to buy and sell digital currency (cryptocurrency) and make digital payments.
On its website it was mentioned that Coins has three big business units, namely mobile payment, digital money, and payment systems for businesses.
In digital money units, Coins has a trading platform for Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum. Coins also sells Bitcoin with Philippine peso, even though buyers and sellers do not have bank accounts.
Coins.ph said that currently they have more than 5 million registered customers for 5 years operating and processing more than 6 million transactions per month.
TechCrunch reported that two sources stated that the acquisition of Gojek to Coins.ph was worth US $ 72 million or around Rp. 1 trillion (exchange rate of Rp. 14,000). This acquisition is probably the biggest ever done by Gojek.
