ShapeShift has acquired Portis Wallet on the back of a high user uptake following the wallet’s integration with the exchange last November. In a Medium post outlining the rationale for the move, ShapeShift founder Erik Vorhees stated that the company had been looking for a self-custody storage solution for some time and that Portis fitted the bill, offering the combination of security and user interface.
?? Welcome to the Fox Den @portis_io! We’re excited to have you join the #ShapeShift family.
Read a blog about the Portis acquisition from our CEO @ErikVoorhees: https://t.co/kv0ThpjAfA
?Create a Portis wallet & get instant access to #ShapeShift: https://t.co/jsRV3s2ScJ pic.twitter.com/X2Lu8BetWz
— ShapeShift ? (@ShapeShift_io) April 14, 2020
Portis Allows ShapeShift Wallet Expansion
Portis is an Israeli startup that allows developers to integrate crypto wallet functionality into their apps, using their own non-custodial blockchain wallet. The Portis wallet offers client-side encryption, ensuring that users are in control of their encrypted private key, and allows integration with all modern browsers to make sure that usage is easy and efficient.
ShapeShift integrated Portis into their platform last year, allowing them to expand their reach from KeepKey, Ledger, and Trezor wallets to include the tokens supported by Portis, which includes all major blockchains and Ethereum derivatives. The trial was clearly very successful, as Portis became the exchange’s most popular wallet option, leading to Vorhees acquiring the project.
Following the purchase, the Portis wallet will be seamlessly integrated into the ShapeShift user experience, with the following benefits:
- ShapeShift users will be able to log in to most leading Web3 applications like OpenSea, Uniswap, and Augur.
- Users of those dApps will be able to get access to commission-free conversions on all major blockchains and fast fiat-to-crypto purchases via a debit card.
Voorhees Sees Bright Future for Crypto
Vorhees took the platform afforded him by the acquisition to tell Forbes about his vision for the future, a future that revolves around decentralized banking rather than the model that has, somehow, survived for over a century:
This (cryptocurrency) is what the real alternative is to all this financial witchcraft. The coronavirus, and the economic crisis that’s happening as a result of it, will accelerate the timeline on which the alternative is needed. To all those who are in this industry, my advice is to stay focused, and build quickly, because the world is going to need this lifeboat very soon.
