Berlin-based Bitwala offers a crypto-friendly banking solution. Founded in 2015, the team has just raised €13 million in Series A funding.
Bitwala is currently the only European platform that combines a regular bank account with a bitcoin wallet and seamless bitcoin trading options. Customers can easily buy and sell bitcoin, online or on mobile, with fast liquidity directly from their bank account, hosted by solarisBank.
Bitwala charges a competitive 1% fee for every bitcoin trade. Customers in all 31 countries of the EEA can access the benefits of a German bank account, with deposits up to €100k are protected by the German deposit guarantee scheme. The account also comes with a free debit Mastercard that can be used for contactless payments and free withdrawals at 40 million ATMs and points-of-sale worldwide.
“I could not be more proud of the team! When we started in 2015, we were three founders and a dog: I never dared to imagine for Bitwala to grow into such a thriving business with so many talented people and thousands of customers across Europe,” said Bitwala’s co-founder and Chief Technical Officer Ben Jones. “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.”
“We started Bitwala to build something which many thought was not possible: Connecting Bitcoin to the conventional financial system and remain in line with supervisory requirements in one of the world’s strictest regulatory jurisdictions: Germany,” said Jan Goslicki, co-founder and Chief Compliance Officer at Bitwala. “We did it for the growing community of blockchain evangelists in Europe and are offering them an easy, swift, and safe place to build the world’s future economy. I want to thank the team for their daily dedication in making this possible.”
Bitwala has high legal and technical standards, making it one of the safest and quickest ways to trade and manage Bitcoin holdings. The startup was founded by Jan Goslicki, Benjamin Jones and Jörg von Minckwitz in 2015, and the team currently consists of more than 40 employees.
Bitwala’s investors include Earlybird Venture Capital, coparion, Global Brain and Sony Financial Ventures, NKB Group, High Tech Gründerfonds, ALSTIN, and the Digital Currency Group.