Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_61f7fb4afebe8" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The company also released its anticipated iOS app to the general public</li>
 <li>Phantom is planning to onboard even more users, a “loftey goal of about 50 million” by the end of 2022, CEO Brandon Millman said</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Phantom has raised an additional $109 million as the Solana-focused crypto wallet becomes the latest digital asset unicorn.&nbsp;



The Series B capital raise — bringing the company’s valuation to $1.2 billion — was led by Paradigm. The funding will be used to expand to additional blockchains, add more users and make more hires. In total, Phantom has raised <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/andreessen-horowitz-leads-9m-series-a-round-for-crypto-wallet-phantom/">$118 million</a>.



“We decided to raise the money to put more fuel on the fire and keep it going,” Brandom Millman, co-founder and CEO of Phantom said in an interview with Blockworks.&nbsp;



Even though the wallet caters to Solana users, it plans to expand into other multi-chain ecosystems this year.  Phantom is looking to first add the Ethereum Virtual Machine, or EVM ecosystem. EVM is a platform that developers can use to create decentralized applications, or dApps, on Ethereum.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><cite><meta charset="utf-8">“Our original impetus was to be a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/custodial-solution-for-metamask-institutions/">MetaMask</a> competitor, so we want to make moves to realize that and expand to other ecosystems sometime this year,” Millman said. “Phantom was always meant to be the wallet we wanted to use coming from the Ethereum side, so we want to fulfill that.”</cite></blockquote>



The non-custodial crypto wallet now has over 2 million active monthly users, up from virtually zero when it was in beta testing in April 2021. For comparison, the six-year-old Ethereum-focused MetaMask had <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211117006028/en/MetaMask-Surpasses-21-Million-MAUs-as-ConsenSys-Raises-200-Million-to-Make-Web3-Universally-Easy-to-Use-Access-and-Build-On">over 21 million</a> monthly active crypto wallet users as of November 2021.



Last month, Millman told Blockworks he was anticipating anywhere from <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/solana-focused-wallet-phantom-hits-1-8m-users-but-aims-much-higher-for-2022/">10 million to 50 million users</a> in 2022, but now he is holding his stance at the higher end of that range with a “lofty goal of about 50 million.” 



As demand continues to grow, Phantom is also releasing its <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/phantom-wallet-launches-mobile-version-to-bring-solana-to-smartphones/">iOS app</a> to the public, so users can store, send and receive Solana’s SPL tokens and NFTs, as well as stake Solana’s native token, SOL, to earn rewards on their iPhones. The Android app for Phantom will be released during the first half of 2022, he said.&nbsp;



Users can also preview non-fungible tokens and use the app’s browser to access all decentralized applications, or dApps, in the Solana ecosystem. To date, Phantom users have staked 112.4 million SOL, roughly $10.4 billion, swapped $1.37 billion in tokens and made $55.2 million in NFTs, DeFi and app transactions.



“We have come from a graveyard of wallets before us that came and went during the last crypto cycle,” Millman said. “It’s tremendous validation for wallets and Web3 in general as an area to create awesome, investable long lasting businesses.”



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Crypto Wallet Phantom Hits Unicorn Status After Raising $109M

<div id="highlights-block_61cd8f04064bd" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Phantom saw a 4,400% increase from 40,000 users in July to 1.8 million users in December</li>
 <li>Its mobile application is aiming for an iOS launch at the end of January or first week of February, Milman said</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Solana-focused crypto wallet Phantom is looking to onboard a lot more users and is aiming to have more than 10 million weekly active users in 2022, Brandon Millman, co-founder and CEO of Phantom told Blockworks.&nbsp;



“Somewhere in the 10 [million] to 50 [million] range is what we’re shooting for,” Millman said. “It’s really hard to say where exactly it’s going to land, especially because the macro crypto environment is such a huge factor as well,” he added.&nbsp;



For reference, Phantom was undergoing beta testing in April 2021 and saw a 4,400% increase from 40,000 users in July to 1.8 million users in December. Phantom hit 1 million users in November and at the end of December, its weekly active user count reached about 1.8 million, Millman said.



In July, Phantom closed a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/andreessen-horowitz-leads-9m-series-a-round-for-crypto-wallet-phantom/">$9 million Series A</a> round led by Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z. Millman said there has been a lot of interest from investors since then, but there are no additional funding rounds to announce at this time.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Shifting its mindset to support Solana users&nbsp;</h3>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="214" height="300" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Brandon-Millman-1-214x300.jpg" alt="Brandon Millman" class="wp-image-13320" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Brandon-Millman-1-214x300.jpg?w=214 214w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Brandon-Millman-1-214x300.jpg?w=732 732w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Brandon-Millman-1-214x300.jpg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Brandon-Millman-1-214x300.jpg?w=1097 1097w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Brandon-Millman-1-214x300.jpg?w=1463 1463w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Brandon-Millman-1-214x300.jpg?w=184 184w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Brandon-Millman-1-214x300.jpg?w=186 186w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Brandon-Millman-1-214x300.jpg?w=156 156w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Brandon-Millman-1-214x300.jpg?w=57 57w" sizes="(max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px" /><figcaption>Brandon Millman, co-founder and CEO, Phantom; Source: Phantom</figcaption></figure></div>



The three co-founders, Millman, CPO Chris Kalani and CTO Francesco Agosti all left their roles at 0x, an open protocol crypto infrastructure startup, to create Phantom in the Spring of 2021.



“We were quite deep in the Ethereum space and we really wanted to create a MetaMask competitor,” Millman said. “We had a lot of ideas on how to make the wallet part of Web3 better,” he added.&nbsp;



The original goal was to create a multi-chain version of MetaMask with a focus on DeFi and NFTs, but as the Phantom team saw extreme growth, they’ve shifted their mindset to supporting Solana and making it the best option for Solana wallet users, Millman said. Wallet users can store, send, receive, stake and swap tokens on the Solana blockchain.



Additionally, non-fungible tokens saw exponential growth this year, which contributed to Phantom&#8217;s success because it allows wallet holders to trade and hold Solana-based NFTs, through NFT marketplaces like Solanart. Although Solanart is one of many NFT marketplaces that Phantom connects to, it has had 541,851 total sales with a total SOL volume of 4,532,922, which is about $797,794,272, according to its <a href="https://solanart.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">website</a>.&nbsp;



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="169" height="300" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Image-from-iOS-1-169x300-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-13332" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Image-from-iOS-1-169x300-1.jpg?w=169 169w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Image-from-iOS-1-169x300-1.jpg?w=576 576w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Image-from-iOS-1-169x300-1.jpg?w=144 144w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Image-from-iOS-1-169x300-1.jpg?w=147 147w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Image-from-iOS-1-169x300-1.jpg?w=123 123w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Image-from-iOS-1-169x300-1.jpg?w=45 45w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Image-from-iOS-1-169x300-1.jpg?w=750 750w" sizes="(max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px" /><figcaption>Phantom&#8217;s mobile app in beta; Source: Phantom</figcaption></figure></div>



Despite enormous growth, the desktop browser-based crypto wallet has no plans to slow down. In addition to expanding to over 10 million users, the company is working on finishing up its mobile applications for iOS and Android, Blockworks previously <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/phantom-wallet-launches-mobile-version-to-bring-solana-to-smartphones/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.&nbsp;



Phantom’s mobile application is currently in beta testing and although it doesn’t have an exact launch date yet, it is aiming for an iOS launch at the end of January or the first week of February, Milman said. Its Android application would follow shortly after.&nbsp;



“The long-term vision is if someone wants to use a blockchain-based application, or dApp, their first instinct to be able to get access to the application should be to download Phantom,” Millman said.&nbsp;



“Very similar to how, if you’re on a laptop, and you want to go to Twitter, your first instinct is to go on a browser. That’s the long-term goal and for that goal to be realized, we do need to be able to support different networks and different blockchains that people are using, so that’s the goal we’re moving toward,” he said.



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Solana-focused Wallet Phantom Hits 1.8M Users but Aims Much Higher for 2022

Sam Reynolds

<div id="highlights-block_618adda37b535" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Phantom recently hit a million users on its desktop wallet</li>
 <li>Phantom Wallet is joining SolFlare in expanding into the mobile wallet space</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Breakpoint 2021, Lisbon, Portugal — Phantom, which recently hit a million users on its desktop wallet, announced a mobile version of its Solana wallet at the Breakpoint conference in Lisbon.



Of course, it’s been possible to trade tokens on mobile for quite some time. Nearly every exchange has a mobile app, but trading doesn’t mean custody and the burgeoning market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) requires custodial wallets like MetaMask.&nbsp;



Phantom has worked hard to expand its custodial wallet on desktop, as more users want the custodial browser experience which MetaMask has pioneered.&nbsp;



Indeed, for the most part, DeFi is a PC-only affair. The wallets and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/solana-ignition-hackathon-to-focus-on-defi-web3-gaming-and-nfts/">Web3</a> protocols used for DeFi activities might in theory work on mobile but it’s a messy affair. Swapping SOL and SPL tokens can be tough on a website designed for desktop but being rendered on mobile.



However, with the round-the-clock nature of crypto, seems a natural choice, especially considering MetaMask’s biggest jump in users came as it launched its mobile app.&nbsp;



“We’re expanding as quickly as we can to meet the new inflow of demand for applications built on Solana. With this launch, we’re giving existing and new users the opportunity to use a solid crypto wallet on-the-go,” said Brandon Millman co-founder and CEO of Phantom in a statement.&nbsp;



“This means they can mint NFTs, stake tokens, and more while not being tied to their computers, which carries considerable weight considering how fast the Solana ecosystem currently moves.”



Phantom joins SolFlare, one of the first Solana-native wallets, in a push for bringing Solana to mobile wallets. SolFare is no stranger to the ecosystem, currently staking 22% of the entire supply of SOL.&nbsp;



For its part Phantom said it&#8217;s blockchain agnostic and it believes in the “multi-chain future”, creating wallet apps aligned with market demand.



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