PDAX Raises $50M to Support NFT and Play-to-earn in the Philippines

　　Philippine-based cryptocurrency exchange Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX), announced on Thursday, February 10, that it has raised more than $50 million in a funding round led by Tiger Global. The investment from Tiger Global completed the companys Series B round of funding, which began with $12.5 million in August 2021.

　　In a message to BitPinas, Nichel Gaba, CEO of PDAX said the fresh funding will allow PDAX to cater to the growing NFT and play-to-earn market in the Philippines.

　　“This fundraise also helps us expand into new offerings that caters to the growing market of NFT enthusiasts and #PlayToEarn gamers. We want to be able to provide a smooth and hassle-free crypto experience for guild managers and scholars.”

　　As reported on BitPinas, the Philippines is a major market in the growing play-to-earn industry, with half of Axie Infinity‘s more than 2.1 million players reportedly are from the country. In addition, 17% (or 3.57 million users) of MetaMask’s 21 million users are also from the Philippines.

　　While there are a few peer-to-peer solutions for cashing out of the “metaverse,” PDAX said it wants to fill in that cash-in and cash-out gap for Filipinos.

　　“We are aware of the many challenges they face right now, and we want to fill in the gap to provide the best on ramp and off ramp solutions for converting metaverse digital assets like SLP to PHP.”

　　“PDAX is making crypto more accessible to millions of people in the Philippines. We are excited to back Nichel and the team as they continue to expand the platform and deliver a top-tier customer experience,” Tiger Global Partner Alex Cook stated.

　　PDAXs funding round also had the participation of Kingsway Capital, Jump Capital, Draper Dragon, Oak Drive Ventures, DG Daiwa Ventures, Ripple and UBX Ventures.

　　Moreover, early investors who led PDAXs Seed and Series A rounds, Beenext Ventures and Cadenza Capital Management, also participated and continued to support the company.

　　“The Cadenza team has been excited to work with PDAX since the Series A round and strongly believes that the PDAX platform allows Filipinos to securely access products and services in global crypto markets,” Kumar Dandapani, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Cadenza Capital Management, said.

　　Dirk Van Quaquebeke, BEENEXT Managing Partner, noted that it is “remarkable to see what PDAX have achieved since our seed round in 2018.”

　　“We, at BEENEXT, believe the Philippines is just on Day 1 of its journey to create a crypto powerhouse as a country,” he added.

　　Moreover, Andy Tang, Partner of Draper Dragon and Draper Associates, expressed their excitement to further support PDAX.

　　“The Drapers have been early investors in dominant crypto exchanges around the world. Our network crypto fund, Draper Dragon is excited to support PDAX to further the vision of compliant crypto and Web3 adoptions in the rapidly growing Philippines market,” Tang stated.

　　Nichel Gaba, CEO and Founder of PDAX, shared that the acquired funds will go towards building safe and accessible infrastructure for the digital asset economy, and emphasized the importance of responsible innovation.

　　“Today, PDAX facilitates the exchange of crypto and fiat currencies, and enables payments in and out of metaverse applications. But there is still a lot of work to be done in building infrastructure. We are in the middle of developments that will continue to make access to digital assets safer, easier and more efficient for everyone,” Gaba said.

　　He also added that as the space grows, “PDAX will continue to work with regulators to ensure that all these innovations protect and create value for users.”

　　On the other hand, PDAX recently teased that the platform will soon support Ronin and will launch play-to-earn game Axie Infinity tokens Smooth Love Potion (SLP) and Axie Infinity Shards (AXS).

　　New cryptocurrency coins have been added to platform bringing the total of cryptocurrencies available on PDAX to nineteen.

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　　Source: BitPinas