thirdweb, the Web3 development platform co-founded by Steven Bartlett, Furqan Rydhan, and Jake Loo, has completed the acquisition of embedded wallet creator Paper.
thirdweb will be adding Paper’s email wallet and checkout solutions to its platform, boosting its offering as a 360-solution for those looking to harness blockchain technology to build apps and games. The new capabilities will “completely transform the development workflow for blockchain development,” as it means developers will only have to work with just one vendor, across compliance and security, technological integration, account management and so on.
thirdweb has established itself as the default platform for blockchain development. Over 1/3 of all Web3 developers have used the platform and over 10 million transactions have been processed by apps built using their tools in 2023 alone.
Paper has achieved similar success with the User Experience layer of Web3 development, creating 50,000+ wallets, minting 500,000+ NFTs and processing over $10 million in transactions over the last 18 months.
The combination of the two platforms means developers now have access to a 100 per cent complete development stack with one single vendor, which will accelerate development by months and propel the whole industry forward.
Web3s next big market cycle is predicted to be sparked by a wave of consumer applications in gaming, commerce, social media and digital collectibles which will onboard tens of millions of users onto the technology. thirdweb’s acquisition of Paper could be the catalyst for this cycle, as the combined solutions will remove obstacles for developers looking to execute their vision.
With access to Paper’s technology, thirdweb developers can make the purchase of NFTs more accessible for future customers, removing the barrier of entry into the marketplace for non-crypto consumers. From now on, an email address is all that will be needed to create a wallet, expanding the potential audience for brands and developers entering Web3 and facilitating growth in a sector on track to become a multi-trillion dollar industry.
Paper’s wallet solution also allows end users to buy crypto assets using their credit cards, as well as Google Pay, Apple Pay, iDEAL, debit cards, and Ethereum for NFTs sold on other chains, removing the challenge of handling Web3 payments.
Founded in 2021 by James Sun, Edward Sun and Phillip Ho, Paper counts the likes of Fnatic, Deadmau5, Boohoo and YesTheory as previous clients.
Paper’s products will be fully integrated into thirdweb’s platform within the next two months ,with the founders joining thirdweb in key senior roles to further its mission to build great onboarding experiences for blockchain developers.
James Sun, founder of Paper, said: “When you are working with multiple vendors, it becomes hugely problematic. You need to run them through your compliance and security process, integrate each piece of technology and work with a bunch of different account managers. Being able to work with one platform that covers all your blockchain needs, simplifies development and go-to market. That’s where I feel thirdweb and paper are an extremely powerful combination.”
Furqan Rydhan, co-founder of thirdweb said: “We’re acquiring Paper first and foremost because the team has built the best onboarding experience for Web3. By combining this with our development stack, we believe we can offer the most powerful solution in blockchain development to date. We truly believe that this will move the needle for the whole industry, and could spark the next huge wave of consumer application in Web3.”
Steven Bartlett, co-founder of thirdweb, added: “This acquisition represents one of the biggest leaps forward in the blockchain infrastructure industry. Today two of the leading blockchain infrastructure players become one. Together, we’ll be able to revolutionise the way people interact with the digital world, streamline blockchain operations and continue lowering the barrier to entry for Web3 developers across the globe. Blockchains are going to change the world as we know it, and now thirdweb is perfectly-placed to enable this disruption.”
