Metatime, a crypto exchange based in Turkey that is still in the pre-launch phase, has secured $11 million in seed funding. According to Metatime, the funding came from the Turkish investment firm Yildiz Tekno GSYO in addition to a number of angel investors whose identities remained undisclosed. It was confirmed by Abdurrahman Kilic of Yildiz Tekno that the investment was made. Some of the most well-known and successful businesses in Turkey, such as Halkbank, Turk Telekom, and Kalyon Holding, are limited partners in the company.
Tapping into Turkey’s Growing Crypto Ecosystem
Cryptocurrency has gained a lot of traction in Turkey, despite the country’s ongoing struggles with high inflation and a weakening currency. In Chainalysis’s 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index, the nation was placed in the 12th position overall. In the midst of the current economic turbulence, Metatime is entering a market that is already saturated with well-established cryptocurrency exchanges such as BtcTurk, Paribu, and Bitay.
Yusuf Sevim, the co-founder and CEO of Metatime, said that Yildiz had invested $150,000 in exchange for 1% of the company’s equity. He also mentioned that angel investors participated in a token round to offer the remaining $11 million needed for the funding. According to Sevim, a total of 33 anonymous angel investors purchased MetaCoin (MTC) tokens.
He also mentioned that 100 million MTC were sold at a price of 5 cents each, and another 100 million MTC were sold at a price of 6 cents each. Sevim went on to say that the initial and final stages of the token sale took place in the months of January and February, respectively. Sevim stated that the angel investors are from Turkey, Denmark, and Germany, but he would not disclose their identities.
Disrupting Crypto Landscape with Comprehensive Crypto Suite
Metatime is a cryptocurrency startup based in Istanbul that is getting ready to offer a number of products and services. These include a native blockchain, a stablecoin, a wallet, a crypto exchange, and an NFT marketplace. According to Sevim, Metatime was launched in 2021 and has been undergoing continuous development ever since.
When questioned why the startup secured the seed round after two years, Sevim responded that he and Hys Sahin, the other co-founder of Metatime, had already invested $10 million in the company before the seed round. According to Sevim, there is a third co-founder of Metatime named Ali Bahadir Ural, but he did not invest.
Sevim disclosed that the launch date for Metatime’s exchange, blockchain, stablecoin, and MTC token is scheduled for November 11. It is anticipated that the NFT marketplace and wallet will become available sometime during the first three months of the next year. In addition, Sevim mentioned that 10% of the tokens belonging to angel investors will also be unlocked on November 11.
He further added that the remaining 90% of tokens will unlock over the course of the subsequent 225 days at a daily unlock rate of 0.4%. According to Sevim, there are currently 208 employees working for Metatime, and the business is looking to hire more people to fill a variety of responsibilities. In the not-too-distant future, Metatime plans to organize a number of public token sales as well.
