Terra, the stablecoin and payments network creator initiated by a coalition of Asian e-commerce giants, has received an investment from Hong Kong’s HashKey Capital, according to a press release.
The investment was not in the form of equity but via the purchase of Terra’s Luna, a mining token which trades on Bittrex and Bitrue and is used to maintain the value of the Terra stablecoin. Created by Korean entrepreneur Danial Shin, who founded and chairs TMON, Terra launched in 2018 boasting a number of partners and customers.
Currently partnered with 25 ecommerce platforms in the region, its goal is to become the PayPal of Asia, or the next Alipay.
Terra, which is incorporated in Singapore as Terraform Labs, would not disclose the investment amount. HashKey did not respond to an email request for clarification.
Company executives say that the investment was related to the Terra’s efforts to expand in the region, including China.
“HashKey Capital has a great presence across Asia, especially in Hong Kong and Mainland China, and we look forward to exploring those regions together,” said Daniel Shin, cofounder of Terra.
HashKey was founded in 2018 and incorporated a number of entities in Hong Kong last year and early this year, according to the Companies Registry.
The company has been an active investor in recent months. According to Crunchbase data, it bought into in Hangzhou, China’s Nervos Network on August 7, Santa Monica, California’s Blockfolio on August 5, Singapore’s AlphaWallet on July 30 and San Francisco’s Kava Labs on July 29.
According to the Terra press release, HashKey Capital has a “strategic partnership” with Wanxiang Blockchain Labs, a Shanghai-based company which is funded by China Wanxiang Holdings, an insurance company. Wanxiang Blockchain Labs describes itself as a non-profit research group and says it is involved in the Chinaledger Alliance and China Blockchain Technology and Development Forum.
HashKey also lists Singapore’s DBS, Shanghai’s Fenbushi Capital and Zug, Switzerland’s Dfinity as partners.
Terra has received a number of investments this year, according to Crunchbase. In May, Singapore’s LuneX Ventures and Seattle-based Arrington XRP Capital invested. In February, Kakao Capital invested, as did Milan’s Iconium. Earlier that same month, LuneX Ventures participated in a coin offering. The company’s seed round was held in August 2018 and attracted 11 investors, while a coin offering was held earlier that same month.