Stablecoin protocol Terra surpasses one million users in less than 9 months
Eight months after launch, Terra, a stablecoin protocol backed by four of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, has surpassed one million user accounts and hit an annual run rate of $2.4 billion, the company reported in a press release seen by CryptoSlate.
In 2018 Seoul-based Terra raised $32 million from myriad VC heavyweights, including the venture arms of Binance, Huobi, as well as UpBit’s parent company and OKEx, with the idea of using stablecoin technology to disrupt the eCommerce payments market.
Terra’s existing user base was probably a strong drawcard for investors.
Conveniently, the platform’s co-founder Daniel Shin is also the founder and president of one of Korea’s top eCommerce sites, TMON (Ticket Monster), and Terra has signed 11 online retail partners throughout Asia that purportedly handle a combined $50 billion in gross merchandise volume each year.
The company said that its rapid user acquisition can be attributed to the success of partner applications using the Terra protocol. Korean mobile payments app CHAI has apparently been instrumental in driving users to Terra.
CHAI comes off as a cheaper, blockchain-powered equivalent to PayPal, allowing users to pay for items online via their bank account, and the app seems to be gaining ground. In its first four months, CHAI routed $54 million worth of eCommerce payments through Terra, and the app now claims over 500,000 users.
Do Kwon, Co-Founder of Terra, stated:
“Terra kept its head down and focused on building a payment network that benefits both merchants and customers and the results speak for itself. Our use cases in countries like Korea and Mongolia, where we have established roots via consumer-friendly mobile payment platforms, support our growth trajectory and help to drive transaction volumes.”