In a Series C funding round led by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners, and Japanese billionaire entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa, HashPort raised 1.2 billion Japanese yen ($8.5 million).
According to an announcement on July 28, the funds will enable HashPort to consolidate its business, acquire a compliance management system and relevant personnel, and navigate the complex global regulatory environment to prepare for its expansion.
The HashPort ecosystem consists of its namesake blockchain-related consulting and system solution in Japan and HashPalette, a public chain specializing in nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The fourth quarter will also see the release of a metaverse game titled The Land Elf Crossing.
HashPort’s Palette Chain and the cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck collaborated in July 2021 to launch Japan’s first initial exchange offering (IEO), or initial coin offering facilitated by an exchange.
The IEO raised 22.45 billion yen in Palette (PLT) token commitments ($160 million). Since then, the company asserts that PLT Place, the official NFT marketplace of Palette Chain, has amassed over 370 thousand users.
The president of HashPort Group, Seihaku Yoshida, stated that the company intends to collaborate with Expo 2025, a forthcoming exposition to be held in Osaka, Japan, to develop digital wallets and digital passports linked to soulbond tokens (SBTs).
Expo 2025 is anticipated to draw over 28 million visitors. We believe that if more than 10 million individuals experience Web3 for the first time, this will be a historic event,” Yoshida wrote.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, an investor in the corporation, partnered with HashPort to issue SBTs in December 2022. The companies intend to investigate SBTs to determine their practical applications for communities, employment, knowledge-sharing services, and autonomous decentralized organizations.
Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, previously proposed SBTs as evidence of the characteristics or reputation of a person, entity, or “soul.” The appellation derives from World of Warcraft items that are soulbound to a specific character.
