Thursday, November 21, 2019

Cypherpunk Holdings Inc. Takes 4.5% Stake in Wasabi Wallet

Press Release
Newsfile
Thursday, November 21, 2019


Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 21, 2019) - Cypherpunk Holdings Inc. (CSE: HODL) ("Cypherpunk" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed an equity investment in zkSnacks Limited ("zkSnacks"), whose products include Wasabi Wallet. Wasabi Wallet is an open-source, non-custodial, privacy-focused Bitcoin wallet for desktop use, that implements trustless coin shuffling with mathematically provable anonymity.

Under the terms of the transaction, Cypherpunk Holdings acquired ordinary shares of zkSnacks from its founding shareholders, representing 4.5% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares of zkSnacks, for an aggregate purchase price of $337,500. In addition, the Cypherpunk Holdings' Chief Investment Officer, Moe Adham, has joined zkSnacks' board of directors.

Commentating on the investment, Cypherpunk Holdings, President and CEO, Dominic Frisby, said: "It's taken a lot of work and several months to get this deal over the line, so I would like to both thank and congratulate everyone involved. We have been most impressed with the Wasabi product and with the growth zkSnacks has displayed. We also believe its role in restoring fungibility to bitcoin will be vital. We are very excited to be coming on board as shareholders and participating in the continuing growth of zkSnacks."

ZkSnacks CEO, Bálint Harmat, added, "In Cypherpunk Holdings, we believe we have found not only an investor, but a strategic partner with whom we share common interests and goals regarding privacy. We are looking forward to participating together as we continue to grow the business of zkSnacks."

Cypherpunk Holdings Inc. invests in companies, technologies and protocols, which enhance or protect privacy. Its strategy is to make targeted investments in businesses and assets with strong privacy, often within the blockchain ecosystem, including select cryptocurrencies. Cypherpunk's common shares trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol "HODL".

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Generally, any statements that are not historical facts may contain forward-looking information, and forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or indicates that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be" taken, "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to the Company's goal of making investments in businesses and assets with strong privacy, within the blockchain ecosystem, including select cryptocurrencies, or otherwise and enhancing value. There is no assurance that the Company's plans or objectives will be implemented as set out herein, or at all. Forward-looking information is based on certain factors and assumptions the Company believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by law. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.

Investor Relations Contact:
Dominic Frisby
President and CEO

Cypherpunk Holdings Inc.
130 King Street West
The Exchange Tower, Suite 3680
Toronto, ON M5X 1B1
Telephone: 416.599.8547
Website: cypherpunkholdings.com

Maker of Wasabi Bitcoin Wallet Valued at $7.5M in First Equity Round

By Leigh Cuen
CoinDesk
Thursday, November 21, 2019


The privacy-centric bitcoin wallet Wasabi, launched by zkSNACKs Ltd. in 2018, just raised its first equity investment from Cypherpunk Holdings, a publicly-traded Canadian firm. 

Cypherpunk Holdings CEO Dominic Frisby said the firm invested $337,500 in exchange for a 4.5 percent stake, valuing the wallet startup at $7.5 million. 

“It’s extraordinary for a tech company, this early in its evolution, to have the revenues that Wasabi already has,” Frisby said. “It’s one of the only forms of a crypto wallet that have a revenue model.”

Although the zkSNACKs team didn’t respond to requests for comment, co-founder Adam Fiscor previously told CoinDesk the company’s mixer transaction fees earned 14 bitcoin in July 2019 alone (roughly $112,000 by current prices). It appears Wasabi Wallet processed at least 5,373 mixed CoinJoins in July, August and early September. If that trend continued for 12 months, it would put revenues at over $1 million. 

This newest addition rounds out Cypherpunk’s holdings, which include roughly 2,000 monero and 180 bitcoin, Frisby said, in addition to equity in the rival privacy project Samourai Wallet (valued at $6.6 million, based on Cypherpunk’s $100,000 investment for 1.5 percent equity) and the blockchain startup Chia, founded by cypherpunk legend Bram Cohen. 

“Both wallets, and privacy-enabling services, have very impressive network effects in that the more participants there are, the more private each participant is,” Cypherpunk’s CIO Moe Adham said. “Wasabi is well-positioned to capture much of that market … not only for personal use but also for enterprises.”