Argent
UK self-custodial crypto wallet and debit card, dominant on Starknet.
On the record
Checkpoint: Ready rebrand completion or a Series C announcement ending four years of silence
The call
Argent holds a small, regulated corner of self-custody that bigger wallets haven't bothered to contest, while its funding and rebrand both sit stalled.
Argent is a cryptocurrency wallet company that lets people control their own money on Starknet, a blockchain network, and also offers a debit card in the UK and Europe. The company built a strong position on Starknet (controlling about 70 percent of users there) and got licensed to run card services, which are real accomplishments, but larger wallet apps like MetaMask, Phantom, and Coinbase could add the same features whenever they choose because there is nothing legally or technically stopping them. The company has not raised new funding in four years, has only 2 million downloads (flat since 2024), and is still working on rebranding after 13 months, all signs that growth has stalled; the biggest question is whether Argent can raise fresh money soon to survive or if the Starknet ecosystem itself will fade as other blockchains like Base and Solana pull ahead.
Why
01
AI pressure: None apparent. No AI product replaces wallet custody yet, but AI-driven transaction simulation and safety checks are becoming table stakes across rivals. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: MetaMask, Phantom, Coinbase Smart Wallet. MetaMask has 100M+ users, Phantom hit 15M MAU after a $3B valuation, and Coinbase Smart Wallet already ships the same self-custody features. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. UK/EEA card licensing and near 70% share of Starknet wallet users give it a narrow, regulated foothold giants haven't bothered to take.
What would change this call
Argent/Ready announces a Series C or new funding round. Shows investors still back the runway; continued silence signals cash crunch.
Ready rebrand fully completed across app, card, and marketing by mid/late 2026. Shows execution capacity; further stalling past 13 months signals internal drift.
Starknet TVL/adoption trend versus Base and Solana over the next year. Ready Wallet's dominant share sits in a shrinking ecosystem if Starknet keeps losing ground.
Ready rebrand fully completed across app, card, and marketing by mid/late 2026. Shows execution capacity; further stalling past 13 months signals internal drift.
Starknet TVL/adoption trend versus Base and Solana over the next year. Ready Wallet's dominant share sits in a shrinking ecosystem if Starknet keeps losing ground.
Key numbers
- $40M Series B raised
- 2M downloads, flat since 2024
- ~70% of Starknet wallet market share
Named risks
- No disclosed funding round since April 2022 Series B, raising runway concerns.
- Starknet, its core dependency, reportedly losing L2 competition to Base and Solana as of mid-2026.
- Ready rebrand still incomplete 13 months in, with placeholder site as of July 2026.
- Ready Card fee model under direct price pressure from Bleap's 0% FX offering.
- MetaMask already supports Starknet via Snaps, eroding Argent's ecosystem-specific moat.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Braavos | contesting | Holds ~30% Starknet wallet share vs Argent X's ~70% as of 2023-2024 |
| Bleap | losing to | Offers 0% FX and no subscription, undercutting Ready Card fees as of 2026-06-09 |
| MetaMask | losing to | 100M+ users vs Ready's 2M downloads; supports Starknet via Snaps as of 2026 |
| Phantom | losing to | Reached $3B valuation and 15M MAU in January 2025, far outscaling Ready |
| Coinbase Smart Wallet | gaining on | Coinbase and Crypto.com cards operate at scale, crowding Ready's card-license niche |
Questions people ask
- Is Argent (now Ready) profitable?
- No public revenue or profit figures exist for Argent/Ready as of 2026. It monetizes via card fees and DeFi integrations but has disclosed no revenue data; total known funding is roughly $50M+ across Seed, Series A ($12M, 2020) and Series B ($40M, 2022).
- Who owns Argent/Ready?
- Argent is privately held and VC-backed, founded December 2017 in London by Itamar Lesuisse, Gerald, and Julien; Lesuisse remains CEO as of 2020. Investors include Paradigm, Index Ventures, Creandum, Starkware, Jump Crypto, and Animoca Brands, per the April 2022 Series B.
- Could AI replace Argent/Ready's wallet features?
- AI-driven transaction simulation and phishing detection are already becoming baseline features at rivals like Rabby and Phantom as of 2026, overlapping with Ready's core simplified-UX value. Ready has no confirmed AI feature launch as of mid-2026, per its own product pages.
- Who is Argent/Ready's biggest competitor?
- On Starknet, Braavos is the direct rival, holding roughly 30% of Starknet wallet users to Argent X's ~70% as of 2023-2024. In cards, Bleap undercuts Ready Card with 0% FX and no subscription fee as of June 2026; broader incumbents MetaMask and Phantom dwarf it in scale.
- Has Argent/Ready raised a Series C?
- No publicly disclosed Series C or new valuation has been found as of mid-2026. Its last disclosed round was a $40M Series B in April 2022 led by Fabric Ventures and Metaplanet, meaning over four years without new capital confirmed.
- What happened to the Argent to Ready rebrand?
- Argent announced its rebrand to Ready on June 24, 2025, splitting into a consumer app/card (Ready) and a Starknet DeFi wallet (Ready Wallet). As of July 2026, the ready.co homepage still shows a placeholder reading 'we're cooking, check back soon.'
Timeline
- 2026-06-09Bleap card comparison shows 0% FX, no subscription, undercutting Ready Card fees
- 2025-08-13Ready app adds Bitcoin loans feature, borrowing against BTC holdings
- 2025-06-24Argent rebrands to Ready, splitting consumer app/card from Ready Wallet
- 2024-11-07Argent launches Telegram Wallet alpha with mini-app SDK
- 2022-12-19Company describes ~21-person remote team across Europe
- 2022-04-28Series B closes at $40M led by Fabric Ventures and Metaplanet
- 2020-03-09Series A closes at $12M led by Paradigm, first European investment
- 2017-12Argent founded in London by Itamar Lesuisse, Gerald, and Julien
Revision history
21 July 2026
First assessed. Protection under test. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Our next chapter: Announcing our $12m Series A (2020-03-07)
- Paradigm leads $12M round for DeFi-friendly Argent wallet (2020-03-09)
- Animoca Brands and Paradigm back Argent in $40 million Series B round (2022-04-28)
- Ready Wallet (Formerly Argent X)
- Ready: Crypto & Card
- Earn on Bitcoin & USDC on the App Store
- Best Starknet Wallet: Argent X vs Braavos (2023-02-01)
- Argent is now Ready (2025-06-24)
- Ready Rebrand FAQs (2025-06-23)
- The new Ready, Coming very soon
- How to use the Argent Telegram Wallet (2024-11-07)
- Ready Card vs Bleap Card comparison (2026-06-09)