Not only FTX’s collapse resulted in the crypto market losing billions of investors’ money, but the sector’s valuations also fell below USD 1 trillion. On top of that, FTX reportedly encountered a ‘hack’ in which USD 477 million worth of tokens was stolen, thus forcing the company to relocate its digital assets to cold storage.
Since then, the use of decentralized crypto wallets (also known as non-custodial wallets) has seen a rise. These digital wallets allow users to store, manage, and transact with their cryptocurrencies in a peer-to-peer method without relying on a centralized third party like an exchange or a bank.
Button Wallet is one such solution, which enables its users to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency with the help of a telegram app. The whole peer-to-peer digital currency transaction happens through a Telegram communication app.
The app is backed by Fulgur Ventures, a venture capital company investing in start-ups focused on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network. BUTTON has over 80000 users right now from close to 120 countries, backed by industry partners like Waves Labs, MakerDAO and DAI, Changelly and Stellar. Its current funding stands at USD 600,000.
Button Wallet is led by Aleksandr Safonov, who is also its co-founder. Safonov’s LinkedIn bio reads, “Experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry, blockchain, ML, MR/VR/AR. Skilled in IT and Hi-TECH Management, Business Development, Marketing Strategy. Strong business development professional graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).”
Rachael McCrary is the Chief Compliance Officer of BUTTON Wallet. She is a healthcare entrepreneur and fashion designer, who apart from winning 15 start-up awards, has been the founder and CEO of Gather Labs and Jewel Toned Inc. She also handled leadership responsibilities in other start-ups such as RxBra, Sharpe Suiting, BlockQuake and Glammly. She is also a contributory writer for the Forbes Los Angeles Business Council.
In BUTTON Wallet, her role reads, “Prioritize order of operations, investor relations, business development, top-level marketing. Work with attorneys on AML policies and procedures with respect to blockchain and the exchange of digital assets.”
Knowing BUTTON Wallet In Detail
“A client-side application based on existing infrastructure, Button is built on Telegram messenger with principles of decentralization. Button focuses on optimizing usability and security for users looking to split the finances of shared experiences with friends. A good use case is friends sharing housing, ticket and dining expenses (like Coachella) within an existing group chat, like Telegram. Whether needs are compensating someone for a small freelance gig, tipping a barista, or sharing a meal with friends, Button users can send funds to their friends using only Telegram usernames. The Venmo for crypto bot has gained 85,000 users since launching in Q4 of 2018,” it stated on its website.
“Our Telegram wallet allows anyone in the world to easily hold digital assets or exchanges cryptocurrency or tokens. Button’s Telegram wallet supports BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, ETC, Waves, Stellar Lumens (XLM) and ERC-20 tokens. US users may also purchase cryptocurrency with fiat money (US Dollars). Telegram TON investors anticipate the release of TON (Telegram Open Network) grows as USD 1.7 billion has been invested into Telegram via Grams. Button Wallet will prepare for this by facilitating the exchange of grams for other cryptocurrencies,” BUTTON added further.
In 2019, BUTTON Wallet became the first crypto-decentralized application to be launched on Telegram’s new blockchain, Telegram Open Network (a blockchain-based decentralized computer network technology). Crypto payment and infrastructure company Wyre became a partner with BUTTON in the same year. Now using the Wyre tech, users in the United States can become verified individuals to purchase cryptocurrency with a debit card usually within one hour. The same process takes up to three weeks, if the user is trying to get verified to purchase digital currencies, in a conventional route.
“Button is focused on community and evolution to continue to optimize financial technology for users to easily and safely manage their fiat and digital assets at their own pace based on individual needs. Users maintain control over their finances for optimal ease of use with the push of a button,” the company remarked on its website.
Last year’s FTX collapse and the resultant crypto market bloodbath have forced people to opt for decentralized wallets, to keep their investments safe. Expect BUTTON to ride on this sentiment and grow further in 2023.