Phantom CEO says wallet reaches 3.2m active users propelled by airdrops

Solana-focused crypto wallet says airdrops attributed to its new active monthly user maximum in January, as the wallet hits 3.2 million active users.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Phantom co-founder and CEO Brandon Millman revealed that the wallet’s user base experienced an exponential surge, marking a 220% increase from 1 million users in January 2023. Alongside the rise in monthly active users, the wallet also recorded over 940,000 installs, representing a 460% surge compared to the same period.

Millman attributed the surge to multiple airdrops, which took place on Solana earlier this year, saying the Jito and Jupiter airdrops were a “huge turning point for the ecosystem.”

“Solana has reached escape velocity and proved itself to be a first-class ecosystem. It’s the platform attracting some of the best builders in the world.”

Brandon Millman

In addition to airdrops, Millman highlighted the burgeoning activity in decentralized finance (defi) as a contributing factor to Phantom’s growth. He noted that defi protocols are incentivizing usage with airdrops, and crypto wallets are increasingly becoming the primary entry point for newcomers to the crypto space. While not providing specific financial details, Millman indicated that Phantom is currently focused on growth rather than revenue generation.

“We’re not super focused on generating revenue, but we prefer to feed it back to the user growth. The more users that sign up, the more developers are attracted to building on the ecosystem, and the more applications and users we get.”

Brandon Millman

Launched in 2021, Phantom initially offered services mainly on Solana but then expanded its reach to Bitcoin as well. A year later, in January 2022, Phantom completed a $109 million series B funding round led by Paradigm, bringing its value to $1.2 billion. Other investors include Jump Capital, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Solana, and Variant.