Bamboo, an Australian micro-investment app, has confirmed its ready plans to expand its crypto services in the United States market.
In a November 4 press release, Blake Cassidy, CEO of Bamboo, confirmed the successful completion of a $3 million funding round that started earlier this week.
The funding initiative saw the participation of Australia’s largest crypto hedge fund, including Orthogonal Trading, Mountain Ash Investment Management, and VP Capital.
Bamboo now intends to use the secured funds to expand its cryptocurrency operations in the United States.
The top executive has alleged that the Australian Security Exchange (ASX) is biased in listing crypto companies and therefore causes Aussie drain-leading firms to seek out a US listing.
Bamboo is one of the leading micro-investing apps that allow users to buy small amounts of digital assets, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The crypto app rounds up to the nearest dollar on each purchase and uses the difference to buy any digital assets offered by the app.
Bamboo revealed its United States expansions plans earlier this week. At the time, Cassidy told the Sydney Morning Herald that he and his team were securing backers for the crypto-based micro-investment app. The media house asked him if he would still pursue the local Australian listing. He determinedly answered a big” No,” adding:
“Companies like ours who need to raise capital and scale rapidly have to look towards North America because we can’t do it here.”
According to a recent announcement, Bamboo is already preparing for the American market expansion and even a potential listing. The company
“sees a gap in the market for their simple, accessible app which focuses on micro-savings, and utilizes their round-ups strategy.”
In that case, a share of the $3 million raised will now go towards expansion efforts in the USA.
Nonetheless, Bamboo is not the only firm accusing the ASX of being biased in listing crypto companies. Animoca Brands, the NFT-game and virtual property developer, also was unjustifiably booted off the ASX in March 2020 for non-compliance with ASX guidelines.
Astonishingly, Animoca successfully shifted its operations to Hong Kong and was valued at roughly $2.2 billion last month, following a $65 million funding round.
On its part, the ASX has defended its past actions arguing that it is aware of all interests of Australian businesses. The Australian watchdog asserts that a regulatory balance needs to be created to safeguard the interests of the crypto market. In the same context, the ASX outlined the recent Bitcoin and Ethereum NFT’s provision approvals.
In July 2021, the Australian regulator issued a stern warning to investors against acquiring digital assets from unregulated exchanges over self-ownership and exchange custody concerns. The ASX strongly believes that a more regulated environment would deter some self-ownership and exchange custody.
But, according to Cassidy, there is an element of completion between the ASX and crypto exchanges, suggesting that “there’s probably an element of it being anti-competitive.”
