Who else missed the wealth code? Web3 "Ctrip" endorsed by Zhao Changpeng skyrocketed three times in the middle of the night
Two days ago, Travala announced that its annual revenue surpassed the milestone of 100 million dollars and included its token AVA and Bitcoin in its strategic reserves.Author: Leek, Foresight News
On December 13, at midnight, the price of a token called AVA surged by 300% within an hour, breaking through the $3 mark from around $0.8, reaching its highest price since October 2021. As of the time of publication, the token was quoted at $2.6, with a 24-hour increase of over 254%.
What caused the obscure AVA token to skyrocket in the middle of the night?
At 11:49 PM on December 12, Binance founder and former CEO Zhao Changpeng posted a tweet on the X platform: "We invested in this crypto travel platform before the pandemic and before the crypto winter."
Image source: X
The tweet he shared was about the project associated with the AVA token, Travala. On December 11, the crypto travel platform Travala announced that its annual revenue had surpassed the $100 million milestone and stated that it would include its token AVA and Bitcoin in its strategic reserves.
According to a report by Cointelegraph, Juan Otero, co-founder and CEO of the crypto travel platform Travala, stated that this milestone reflects a significant increase compared to the platform's $59.6 million revenue in 2023. He explained that the surge was mainly driven by flight and hotel bookings, with the platform allowing payments in over 100 cryptocurrencies.
Travala is a platform that combines blockchain technology with travel services, aiming to enhance the convenience and transparency of global travel through cryptocurrency payments. Its founder, Juan Otero, held senior positions in several tech companies and startups before creating Travala in 2017, which is headquartered in the UK. The intention was to revolutionize the travel booking industry through blockchain technology, making travel more convenient, efficient, and economical.
Since its establishment, Travala has secured multiple rounds of funding. Tracxn data shows that Travala raised a total of $1.62 million through five rounds of seed funding. The largest round of funding occurred on October 29, 2020, amounting to $1.25 million. Notable investors include the Thailand-based institutional investor Yellow and angel investor Mohammad Maaz. Other rounds of funding took place between 2019 and 2022, with some amounts undisclosed. Zhao Changpeng also revealed that Binance had invested in the platform in 2019 or earlier.
The native token of Travala, AVA, was listed on Binance in July 2019, marking one of the significant milestones in the project's development. Additionally, AVA has been listed on multiple exchanges, including KuCoin and Gate.io.
Travala has made some progress over the past few years, including:
- Diversified payment methods: Currently supports payments in over 90 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Binance Coin (BNB). Additionally, traditional payment methods such as credit cards and PayPal are also supported.
- Product expansion: Expanded from initial hotel bookings to comprehensive services including flight bookings, travel activities, and vacation packages, covering over 220 countries and regions worldwide.
- Partnerships with travel giants: Established partnerships with traditional travel giants like Booking.com and Expedia to provide users with a richer array of travel options.
- Community and governance: Launched AVA Staking and Smart Program, allowing users to earn rewards by staking AVA and participate in platform governance and decision-making.
- Post-pandemic recovery: Launched an innovative "Travel Points Program" post-pandemic to attract users back to the travel market and announced that quarterly sales are gradually recovering to pre-pandemic levels.
Cointelegraph quoted its founder Otero stating that with more resources, Travala expects to hire new employees on its platform and launch new incentive measures, adding: "Treasury funds will be strategically managed; as the crypto ecosystem continues to mature, we hope to be able to use our crypto reserves directly when necessary, without conversion."
Travala did not disclose the amount of its Bitcoin and AVA reserves at launch. However, its founder mentioned that as the business and market continue to mature, they may consider introducing other tokens into the treasury in the future.
