Indonesian unicorn company Go-Jek acquires Filipino crypto startup Coins.ph

Jakarta-based technology startup Go-Jek has acquired a majority stake in Filipino cryptocurrency wallet Coins.ph, Bitcoin.com reported.

Go-Jek, Indonesia’s first unicorn company, was established in 2010 as a motorcycle ride-hailing phone service. Over the years, the company has evolved into an on-demand mobile platform and app, providing a wide range of services including transportation, logistics, mobile payments, food delivery, and many other on-demand services.

Founded in 2014, Coins.ph is a digital wallet provider that allows Filipinos to make payments or buy digital currency such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum. According to the official website, the company customer base has grown to more than 5 million.

Coins.ph is expected to continue its operations as before following this acquisition.

Although the terms of the deal have not been disclosed, TechCrunch reported that Go-Jek paid $72 million for acquiring the majority stake in Coins.ph, citing two industry sources.

Speaking with TechCrunch, Ron Hose, CEO and co-founder of Coins.ph, said that the company was in the process of raising a new round of funding when the Go-Jek opportunity presented itself.

“We had to make a decision on how we want to continue growing our business, and we felt like ultimately together with Go-Jek we could build something that is overall bigger and better for our customers,” he said.

He said that Coins.ph will leverage Go-Jek’s resources and expertize to provide Filipinos with even more convenience, choice, and access to the services.

Go-Jek’s payments platform Go-Pay has entered into a partnership with Coins.ph.

“We are excited to work with Coins.ph, a company that shares our ethos of empowering communities by bringing more people into the digital economy. Consumer transaction behavior in Indonesia and Philippine share many similarities, and together with Coins.ph, we hope to have similar success in accelerating cashless payments in the Philippines,” Aldi Haryopratomo, CEO of Go-Pay, said.