Crypto Telegram mini-app Blum raises $5m from VC backers, including OKX

Crypto trading app Blum has raised $5m in venture capital funding.

The round was led by gumi Cryptos Capital (gCC), a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that specialises in the crypto industry.

Other participants included the venture arm of crypto exchange OKX and crypto algo trading firm Wintermute.

Blum is an interesting company because it operates solely as a mini-app within messaging application Telegram.

The company’s mini-app is listed as having close to 15m users within the last month.

The app allows users to trade crypto, launch their own coin, and also set up a trading bot.

Blum has a huge social media presence, with almost 9m YouTube subscribers and over 30m followers on its Telegram channel, which is separate from its main app.

In the CFD space, NAGA is the only broker so far to launch a mini app within Telegram. That effort appears to have paid off, with the broker noting that almost 10% of new clients last year came from the messaging application.