Revolut alumni raise $2.3m to develop blockchain banking app
New blockchain startup
Former Revolut employees Joao Alves and Guilherme Gomes have raised $2.3 million to create Bleap, a blockchain-based banking app. The funding round was led by Joe Lubin’s Ethereal Ventures, the founder of Consensys.
According to The Block, additional investors in the startup include Maven11, Alliance DAO, Robot Ventures, Credibly Neutral, and executives from Revolut, Phantom, OKX, EigenLayer, and Consensys. This funding has brought Bleap’s valuation to $10 million.
Bleap introduces a new approach to payments, allowing users to spend stablecoins via a Mastercard debit card. The app offers zero exchange or conversion fees and provides up to 2% cashback on purchases.
Development of Bleap began in July 2023. Alves, who previously led Revolut’s card program, described Bleap as a "radically better banking app." Co-founder Gomes emphasized that blockchain enables features unavailable in traditional financial systems.
How Bleap works
Bleap operates on Ethereum’s Layer 2 network, Arbitrum, ensuring fast, gas-free transactions while eliminating the need for seed phrases. Instead, it leverages Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology by PortalHQ, which splits wallet keys between users and PortalHQ for enhanced security. Users can recover access through cloud backups and two-factor authentication, avoiding the risks associated with seed phrase loss.
Upon registration, Bleap creates a smart wallet powered by ERC-4337 technology, offering a seamless experience for managing web3 assets. The wallet supports stablecoins like USDC, USDT, USDA, and EURA. Users can also add assets from external wallets or purchase them with fiat via integrated, fee-free services.
While Bleap currently operates exclusively on Arbitrum, its deposit and bridging services extend to Ethereum, Polygon, BNB, Solana, and Bitcoin. Users can purchase cryptocurrencies on these networks and transfer them to their external wallets.
Meanwhile, stablecoin trading volumes in November reached $1.8 trillion, marking a record for 2024.
