Phantom
Unicorn Β· $3BFounded 2021 Β· 13 known investors
Phantom is a multichain cryptocurrency wallet designed for consumer accessibility and ease of use. The platform enables token swaps, social features, and money transfers between users.
Also known as Phantom - Trade Markets Β· Phantom Technologies, Inc. Β· Phantom Wallet
Founders & leadership
Phantom was founded in 2021 by Brandon Millman and Francesco Agosti.
Investors Β· 13
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Also in the syndicate Β· 1
Valuation Β· disclosed
Disclosed eventsSource: SEC prospectus filings, and round valuations the company or its investors disclosed β follow each entry's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Phantom (Phantom Technologies, Inc.) is a self-custodial multichain crypto wallet and consumer finance application available as a mobile app, browser extension and desktop product. Users can buy, sell, swap and hold crypto across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base, Sui and HyperEVM, stake SOL, follow trending tokens and top traders' wallets, and participate in token chats. The company describes itself as self-custodial, meaning it does not have access to user funds, and cites independent audits, biometric authentication, scam detection that flags malicious transactions, Ledger hardware wallet support and 24/7 global support.
Beyond trading, Phantom has expanded into payments and broader consumer finance. Its marketing describes prediction markets, perpetual futures, a desktop "Terminal" trading interface, peer-to-peer money transfers, a "Phantom Cash" balance with fee-free stablecoin-to-cash swaps, and spending via Apple Pay, Google Pay or a prepaid Visa debit card issued by Lead Bank with Bridge Ventures LLC acting as program manager. Phantom is explicit that it is not a bank but a financial technology company acting as platform provider.
Phantom also maintains a developer platform: Phantom Connect SDKs (React, React Native and Browser) for embedded wallets and social login in third-party apps, and a Phantom MCP server that gives AI agents a Phantom wallet with 13 tools covering wallet operations plus swaps and portfolio rebalancing across Solana, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Sui.
Founding story
According to the company's About page, in January 2021 a group of engineers, designers and former founders came together with the ambition of making crypto simple and more accessible. The product was developed with a community of 40,000 active beta testers before wider launch.
Business model
Phantom offers a free-to-download self-custodial wallet application (mobile, browser extension and desktop) in which users retain control of their keys. Monetization is not explicitly described in the sources, though the company reports trading revenue and operates swap, perpetuals and prediction-market trading features, a stablecoin cash product advertised with no fees on stablecoin-to-cash swaps, and a prepaid Visa debit card issued by Lead Bank with Bridge Ventures LLC as program manager and Phantom as platform provider.
The sources do not detail pricing. Phantom refers to "trading revenue" in connection with its swap and trading activity, advertises no fees on stablecoin-to-cash swaps within Phantom Cash, and notes that fees may apply to its prepaid Visa debit card.
Traction
As of January 2025 Phantom reported 15 million monthly active users, $20 billion annual swap volume, 12 average app opens per day, 850 million onchain transactions, $25 billion in self-custody assets and 3.8 million usernames. Current listings cite 20M+ users, 10M+ Google Play downloads, a 4.7 rating from about 152K Google Play reviews, a 4.8 rating from about 64K App Store ratings, and a #80 rank in the App Store Finance category. Earlier milestones include 40K beta testers, 1M+ users at the time swaps were introduced, over $1B in swap volume by October 2021, and 3M+ users around the July 2021 raise.
Latest developments
The most recent company milestone documented in the sources is the January 2025 $150M Series C at a $3B valuation, after which Phantom said it would invest in social discovery features around its 3.8 million usernames and in simplifying peer-to-peer payments. Current app store listings and the website show an expanded product set including prediction markets, perpetuals, a desktop Terminal, Phantom Cash and a prepaid Visa debit card, plus a stated user base of over 20 million. Developer documentation describes the Phantom MCP server for AI agents and Connect SDKs for embedded wallets. The Google Play listing shows an update dated 2026-08-14 and developer responses to reviews dated June 2026.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Phantom describes itself as the world's leading crypto wallet and as having the largest onchain user base, citing 15 million monthly active users, $20 billion in annual swap volume, 850 million onchain transactions and $25 billion in self-custody assets as of January 2025, with more than 20 million users cited in current app listings. Third-party documentation describes it as a leading crypto wallet across Solana, Ethereum, Bitcoin, Base, Polygon, Sui and HyperEVM. Its growth is closely associated with the Solana ecosystem.
Phantom positions itself against centralized exchanges by offering self-custody plus access to assets across multiple blockchains, and against other wallets on design and ease of use. The company stated that in November and December (2024) its active traders, trading revenue and trading volume were multiples higher than MetaMask and Coinbase Wallet combined. Additional differentiators cited include integrated scam detection, social features built on 3.8 million usernames, and an AI-agent wallet via its MCP server.
Technology
A self-custodial, multichain wallet supporting Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base, Sui and HyperEVM, with on-chain and cross-chain swaps, SOL staking, biometric authentication, independent audits, Ledger hardware wallet integration and transaction scam detection (an area strengthened by the Blowfish acquisition). Developer-facing technology includes React, React Native and Browser Connect SDKs with embedded wallets and social login, and an MCP server exposing 13 tools that let AI agents view balances, sign messages, send transactions, swap tokens and rebalance portfolios.
Go-to-market
Distribution is direct-to-consumer through app stores (Apple App Store and Google Play, where the Android app shows 10M+ downloads) and a browser extension/desktop product, supported by the phantom.com and phantom.app websites. A developer channel exists via Connect SDKs and the MCP server, which embed Phantom wallets into third-party apps and AI agent environments. The company has also used acquisitions (Bitski, Blowfish) and stated plans for further strategic partnerships and acquisitions.
Retail crypto consumers, from newcomers creating an account with an email to active traders, plus developers and AI-agent builders integrating wallets through Phantom's SDKs and MCP server.
Geography
Phantom Technologies, Incorporated lists an address at 447 Sutter St Ste 405, San Francisco, CA 94108, United States. The apps are distributed globally through the Apple App Store and Google Play, and the company references a global 24/7 support team; the prepaid Visa card program is US-based (Lead Bank, Visa U.S.A.).
History
Phantom states it was formed in January 2021 by a group of engineers, designers and former founders, and launched in 2021 alongside a community of 40,000 active beta testers. It introduced an in-app token swapper in June 2021, passing $1B in swap volume by October 2021, and raised $9M in July 2021 from a16z, Variant and Jump Capital among others. A $109M Series B was announced on 31 January 2022 together with the launch of the iOS app. In 2024 the company made its first two acquisitions, Bitski and Blowfish, for wallet infrastructure and security respectively. In January 2025 it raised a $150M Series C co-led by Sequoia Capital and Paradigm at a $3B valuation, and launched usernames, profiles and other social features.
Risks & controversies
User reviews on the app stores raise recurring complaints about security and support: an App Store reviewer described funds being stolen and alleged possible security flaws in the extension and app, and another described frequent fake-token deposits used in scams. A Google Play reviewer reported being unable to transfer or spend Phantom Cash funds or sign up for the debit card, with unresolved support follow-up; the company responded publicly directing users to support. Other reviews cite performance issues and dissatisfaction with UI changes making the app feel cluttered. As a self-custodial provider, Phantom states it never has access to user funds, which places recovery responsibility on users. The card program depends on third parties (Lead Bank as issuer, Bridge Ventures LLC as program manager).
Compiled by commissioned research from 12 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Founder mafia
3 people who came through Phantom went on to found or lead other companies.
Competitors Β· 4
by search overlap
Companies competing with Phantom for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline Β· 9
launches, deals, and filingsSeries C co-led by Sequoia Capital and Paradigm, with participation from existing investors including a16z crypto and Variant, at a $3 billion valuation.
$150M source β
Phantom launched usernames, profiles and other social features to make transfers between friends and family easier.
Phantom launched usernames, profiles and other social features to make transfers and connections between users easier.
Phantom stated that in 2024 it made its first acquisition, Bitski, to build wallet infrastructure.
Phantom stated that in 2024 it made its second acquisition, Blowfish, to add security features.
Blog listing references a $109M Series B round announced alongside the launch of the Phantom iOS app.
$109M source β
Phantom announced a $9M raise (described on its About page as Series A funding, July 2021) from a16z, Variant, Jump Capital and others.
$9M source β
Phantom launched its in-app token swapper in June 2021 and recorded over $1B in swap volume by October 2021.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
Frequently asked questions
- What does Phantom do?
- Phantom is a self-custodial multichain crypto wallet and consumer finance app with 20M+ users across Solana, Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- Who founded Phantom?
- Phantom was founded by Brandon Millman, Francesco Agosti in 2021.
- Who are Phantom's investors?
- Phantom's investors include Paradigm, Sequoia Capital, Jump Capital, a16z crypto, Andreessen Horowitz, Designer Fund, Kindred Ventures, Multicoin Capital and 4 more.