Bitwala announced on July 31 that they had raised €13 million ($14.34 million) in Series A funding. The German-based cryptocurrency bank announced that an international investor Consortium that was led by Sony Financial Ventures, Global Brain and British investment company NKB Group helped to reach the funding goal.
In a statement, Jan Goslicki, co-founder and chief compliance officer at Bitwala explained, “We started Bitwala to do something that nobody thought was possible: to connect Bitcoin and the conventional financial system while fulfilling the requirements of the strict German banking regulation.”
Bitwala first began operations in 2015, but the German-based bank introduced a new crypto-friendly banking platform in December of last year. This was a completion of a ten-month project that made the financial institution the first to offer a crypto banking solution in Europe. This was made possible through a partnership with SolarisBank, a FinTech firm that held a banking license in Germany.
Currently, the bank offers services to customers in 31 different countries and provides all of the standard features of traditional banking with the addition of enabling customers to deal and create accounts for their cryptocurrency. This includes giving customers a bank debit card that can be used throughout Europe, giving them complete access to their funds. Bitwala charges a 1% fee for every SegWitCoin (BTC) trade, which has made it an attractive option for a large number of investors across Europe.
In addition to the statement from Goslicki, fellow co-founder Ben Jones added, “Today, we are offering a bridge for both mainstream users and blockchain buffs, who want to interact with the emerging blockchain ecosystem – the growing digital economy spreading across the globe. While there is still huge upside potential, it has already been a humbling experience to see the ecosystem grow and for Bitwala to play such an important part in that.”
What exactly the funding will be used for is not described in the press release, but Bitwala does discuss the re-launch of their mobile app which connects “bitcoin to the current financial system” in a much more user-friendly and easy to use design. The new funding could be used to further the progress of their application.
Because of the integrity and adherence to regulatory guidelines, Bitwala has quickly become the safest and quickest way for many to trade and manage their BTC assets. The company began operation in 2015 as the joint vision of Goslicki, Jones and Jörg von Minckwitz. They have clients in all 31 member countries of the European Economic Area and the financial institution claims to supply insurance for deposits up to €100,000 ($110,000).
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