Clave, a London-based developer of self-custodial cryptocurrency wallets, has been acquired by Paribu, Türkiye’s leading digital asset exchange and pioneer in institutional-grade custody solutions. The announcement was made on March 11, 2026. The acquisition amount remains undisclosed. Clave invested in by Matter Labs and others in a $1.6 million pre-seed round. Clave builds passkey-based mobile wallets that allow users to manage crypto assets without seed phrases, featuring gasless DeFi, unified Layer 2 balances, and ZK-email authentication.
Overview
Paribu acquired Clave Technologies Limited, integrating its team, technology, and expertise into Paribu’s operations. Clave’s entire team is joining Paribu’s organization to scale self-custody solutions. The deal accelerates Paribu’s strategy in decentralized finance, stablecoins, and tokenization products like Paribu Self.
For existing Clave users, operations remain unchanged. Funds stay safe, private keys remain under user control, and the app functions as before. Future developments will integrate Clave’s features into Paribu’s ecosystem, with users prioritized for updates.
Clave achieved over 20,000 users and more than $10 million in total value locked within a year of launch. This milestone highlights its rapid adoption in the competitive decentralized wallet market alongside MetaMask, Phantom, and Trust Wallet. Recent industry activity has also seen several acquisitions aimed at expanding crypto ecosystems. Deals such as PolyGun Acquires Polymarket and Jito Acquires SolanaFloor reflect a broader trend of companies integrating specialized platforms and communities to strengthen their infrastructure and market reach.
About the Company
Clave develops production-ready, passkey-based self-custodial wallets using multi-party computation technology. The wallet turns smartphones into hardware wallets, eliminating seed phrase friction while maintaining security and decentralization. It supports storing, spending, earning, and trading assets in one interface.
Key technical contributions include RIP-7212 and EIP-7951 standards for passkey-native authentication on Ethereum and its Layer 2 ecosystems. Additional features encompass gasless DeFi transactions, unified balances across L2 networks, and ZK-email integration developed with the Ethereum Foundation.
Real-world usage includes purchases like coffee at Devconnect Istanbul, merchandise at ETH Denver, cocktails at DevCon Bangkok and ETH Brussels, and smoothies at ETH Berlin. This demonstrates Clave’s focus on seamless everyday onchain experiences.
Investors
Matter Labs led Clave’s pre-seed funding. Matter Labs invested in Clave when it was a hackathon project building on ZKsync.
Safe Foundation participated in the round. Lambda Class invested in Clave. Mirana Ventures backed the startup.
Angel investors included Doruk İşmen of Agora Finance. Raj Parekh, former Visa executive, invested in Clave. Aayush Gupta from the Ethereum Foundation provided early support. Additional angels were 0xKofi, Sandypeng, Turan Sert, Kristof Gazso, Anurag Arjun, Batux, and Hakan Barslan.
Market Context
Paribu serves millions of users in Türkiye, offering consumer and enterprise services. Paribu operates institutional-grade custody through ColdShield and holds brokerage authorization from the Capital Markets Board. Paribu acquired CoinMENA, MENA’s largest local crypto exchange, in December 2025 for up to $240 million.
The acquisition positions Paribu to bridge exchange users to DeFi and self-custody. Paribu’s regulatory infrastructure and scale enable Clave to reach millions who hold crypto but lack onchain experience. Paribu CEO Yasin Oral noted the alignment in bringing onchain opportunities to end users.
Clave CEO Baki Er emphasized Paribu’s regional leadership and resources for faster scaling. This move supports Paribu’s licensed expansion strategy across MENA and Europe.
Funding History
Clave raised $1.6 million in a February 2024 pre-seed round. Matter Labs led the investment in Clave. Safe Foundation, Lambda Class, and Mirana Ventures participated in the pre-seed. Angels Doruk İşmen, Raj Parekh, and Aayush Gupta joined the round.
The funding supported shipping RIP-7212, ZKsync integration, and product development. Investors provided technical and strategic guidance through challenges. Clave also graduated from QNBEYOND Accelerator Program’s sixth cohort.
