Coldplay star backs crypto payments platform Zumo

Scottish cryptocurrency start-up Zumo has launched an app that stores, sends and allows users to spend and exchange cryptocurrencies online.

The Edinburgh-based company, which is backed by Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman, aims to capitalise on the surge in cryptocurrency prices since the beginning of the lockdown.

Nick Jones, CEO and founder of Zumo, said: “Covid-19 has fast forwarded the move to a cashless society and for safe and easy ways to invest in new forms of currency that are more resilient to crises such as this one.

“Zumo allows people to safely exchange, store, send and use their own money online without needing a bank account.

“Our app was created for everyone. That includes the hundreds of millions of ordinary people who trust in global financial markets where they exert no agency. We want those people to own their own money in a way that wasn’t possible when the last financial crash hit in 2008.”

Over the coming weeks, Zumo will add support for GBP and EUR alongside a convertible contactless debit card that can be used in stores.

As well as Coldplay’s Guy Berryman being on board as an investor, the company has attracted investment from Murray Capital and the Scottish Investment Bank, the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise.

David Murray, Managing Director of Murray Capital, said: “Now is the time to be investing in the technologies that will shape the financial security of future generations. We have an excellent opportunity now to bring those with no bank account online, particularly people in developing countries, and we are excited to support Zumo in their mission to do so.”

For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here.