France

Mar 16 2021

Bitpanda Hits $1.2 Billion Valuation After Raising $170 Million Funds

Crypto-broker BitPanda is now officially Australia’s first fintech unicorn after raising $170 million from a Series B round, reports reveal.

The funding was headed by Valar Ventures and is coming barely six months after the firm raised $52 million from its first funding. With the latest funding, BitPanda is now valued at $1.2 billion.

The funding round also featured partners from investment firm DST Global, founded by Yuri Milner. DST Global has also invested in other ventures, including in American-based crypto-friendly stock trading app Robinhood. Although this is the first time DST is investing in Bitpanda, the other company Valar was involved in the company’s first funding round last year

The growth recorded in several areas

After concluding its Series A funding, the crypto broker has gained in several areas, including in the area of profits. Its revenue in the first two months of the year has already surpassed its revenue for the whole of 2020. Besides, the company’s user base has grown to 2 million registered users from 1.3 million within the past six months.

BitPanda’s mobile and desktop app offer access to over 50 investment assets, including precious metals and cryptocurrencies.

The firm is also planning to a new asset class such as ETFs and stocks within the year. Additionally, it has started taking price orders for a new Visa card that will be combining all assets such as precious metals, fiat, as well as crypto assets.

Co-founder and chief executive officer of Bitpanda Eric Demuth commented on the development. He said in a short time, retail investors will have access to a wide range of investments. “We already have plans in place to bring our offer to several new markets,” he added.

More expansion on the horizon

Bitpanda has been expanding its operations to several countries in recent months. Presently, the firm has a presence in Poland, Italy, Turkey, Spain, as well as France.

Last December, the company set up a tech innovation hub in Krakov with hopes of doubling its workforce. Bitpanda revealed there are plans to add more tech hubs and offices in Berlin, Paris, London, Barcelona, and London.

Demuth said the company wants to expand globally and has put plans in place for such expansion. It also wants to expand its financial products and bring them close to new audiences.

In the future, Bitpanda hopes to introduce the trading of exchange-traded funds as well as fractional shares on its platform.

Bitpanda Hits $1.2 Billion Valuation After Raising $170 Million Funds

Source

Feb 23 2021

Cointelegraph Consulting: Research outlines how DeFi can merge with traditional finance

Whilst public adoption of crypto assets is increasing, the global regulations continue to progress and recognise decentralized technologies as a suitable infrastructure for the dematerialisation of securities. In Luxembourg, the country that is second in the world in terms of assets under management, the country’s regulator adopted a bill that explicitly recognised the possibility of using distributed ledger technology for the dematerialisation of securities.

The regulation is moving quickly elsewhere across Europe: Tokenized securities now fall under the same rules and regulations as traditional financial instruments in many other European countries including France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain and the UK.

Read the ebook to discover how you can be part of this emerging digital asset industry. Download the full report here.

What next for the industry? Due to the increase in public adoption and the favourable regulatory environment, demand from the financial industry to access digital networks is on the rise. So far, banks have digitized the retail industry but not much has evolved in capital markets.

The digitization of this industry is now possible through the blockchain, an infrastructure now widely recognized by the largest governments globally for financial instruments. Funds and asset managers can now upgrade their distribution channels by launching Digital Asset Marketplace (DAM) and connecting to others via decentralized networks.

DAMs will help their customers discover new opportunities, manage their investments and even open secondary market possibilities. In this ebook, industry participants explain how capital market players can benefit from blockchain by launching a DAM and maximizing the monetization of their investor base.

Financial institutions are beginning to publicly embrace and adopt the technology. So far they have started, as expected, with crypto-assets. Once they begin to trust the technology and it becomes embedded within their portfolios, it will mean one thing: curiosity will peak and these institutions will realise the operational benefits of decentralized technology.

Driven by increased confidence in the technology, and pressured by DeFi replacing many traditional banking functions, institutions will begin to learn that the technology can solve long-standing and deeply entrenched industry problems, particularly in the opaque and highly illiquid private markets.

Digital Asset Marketplaces, i.e. primary and secondary venues where investors meet, will be the driver for this according to the study. However, open source standards like the Token for Regulated EXchanges (T-REX), are required to enforce compliance onchain in a heavily regulated world.

Cointelegraph Consulting: Research outlines how DeFi can merge with traditional finance

Source

Sep 30 2020

Merchants accepting Bitcoin laud ‘zero chargeback risks’, says BitPay report

BitPay recently released a study highlighting four merchants from different businesses that have implemented Bitcoin as a payment method. The parties selected to participate included a gold broker, an online gift card marketplace, a domain registrar that also serves as a hosting service, and an electronics retailer.

In the report, the unnamed merchants praised crypto’s lack of fraud-related chargebacks, noting the immensity of this issue when dealing with traditional institutions.

They also reported that while only 0.5% to 6.5% of their total eCommerce sales came from crypto transactions, these helped to boost the flow of new customers by 40% on average over the last three years.

During the pandemic, the study stated that merchants reported an increase in online shopping. This bolstered the number of crypto transactions on their respective platforms, with 11% of responding customers stating that they were using crypto and other digital payment methods for the first time.

The report also adds:

“The interviewed merchants identified an opportunity to grow sales by reaching a new customer segment that prefers to pay with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies when shopping online. While cryptocurrency buyers still represent a relatively small share of spending, cryptocurrency recognition is significant and growing.”

At the beginning of September, a British online food delivery platform called “Just Eat” added cryptocurrency payment support for its subsidiary in France.

Merchants accepting Bitcoin laud ‘zero chargeback risks’, says BitPay report

Source

Sep 30 2020

Bitcoin Price Prediction: BTC/USD Consolidates Above $10,700 as Bulls Face an Uphill Task

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction – September 30, 2020
BTC/USD has retraced and fallen to the previous price range. The coin is likely to be range-bound in the current price range for a few more days. BTC is trading between $10,660 and $10,880.

Resistance Levels: $10,000, $11, 000, $12,000
Support Levels: $7,000, $6,000, $5,000

Today, BTC is trading in a confined range as the market resumes consolidation above $10,700. . The current retracement has found support above $10,680. The crypto has fallen to the previous price range of between $10,660 and $10,880. The bulls have failed in the previous uptrend as price momentum dries up after hitting the $10,880 resistance. Nonetheless, it is noted that the $10,880 resistance is the major obstacle to the current uptrend. BTC has to overcome it before resuming upside momentum.

On the upside, to achieve a compelling breakout, the resistance must be broken while the bullish momentum. is sustained. Assuming, the bulls break the current resistance, and the momentum sustained, a rally above $11,000 is possible. Above the $11,000 support, BTC will have an accelerated price movement. It is assumed that the resistances from $11,100 to $11,300 will be cleared. A retest at the $12,000 and $12,400 becomes possible if the bulls are successful. Conversely, the bears may take advantage and break the current support at $10,660 if the current uptrend fails. This will cause a further decline to $10,500 support. However, if the bears are successful the bullish scenario will be invalidated.

French Police Detains Terror Financing Ring That Uses Bitcoin Coupons
The 29 members of a network allegedly financing a jihadist network in Syria have been arrested and detained. They were arrested while buying crypto currency coupons in licensed tobacco shops across France. The jihadist network was busted after being caught purchasing crypto currency coupons in tobacco outlets across France. These coupons are worth between 10 and 150 euros each ($12–$176). The jihadist network allegedly uses the coupon to credit their Syrian accomplices’ Bitcoin (BTC) accounts. The terrorists use these services, as they don’t require proof-of-identity.

Meanwhile, the BTC price is stuck in the current price range. The price is consolidating and characterized by small body candlesticks called Doji or spinning tops. These candlesticks describe the indecision between buyers and sellers about the direction of the market. However, if price breaks the $10,660 support, the BTC price will fall. And if it falls below $10,000 or $9,800, the Fibonacci tool analysis will hold. That is the market will fall to the 1.272 Fibonacci extension or $9,268.10 low.

Bitcoin Price Prediction: BTC/USD Consolidates Above $10,700 as Bulls Face an Uphill Task

Source

Sep 22 2020

French and Italian Regulators Go After Unlicensed Crypto Services

Cryptocurrency scams have continued to grow, and their influence is reaching even the farthest parts of the world. However, regulators worldwide are also improving their ability to track and apprehend these criminal enterprises’ operators.

AMF Cleans Its Crypto Investment Space

Earlier this week, Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), France’s top financial regulator, sent out a list of investment companies operating within its borders without the proper authorization. While the companies provide investments in different asset classes, some are also linked with cryptocurrencies.

Most notable among the crypto-linked scam sites is BitcoinFrance. Per the report, the company promises users free access to its proprietary Bitcoin trading software once they deposit $250. The company allegedly has an app that trades crypto markets and purportedly generates $1,000 in earnings daily. It also adds that its investments are risk-free, and customers’ funds are guaranteed. As the AMF said, the list could change at any time as most of these fraudulent companies tend to switch their operations and identities.

So far, the AMF has been doing its bit to ensure effective oversight of its digital asset space. The agency has worked to close loopholes that could provide an avenue for criminals to thrive, and like many other regulators, it has introduced licensing requirements for most industry players.

In July, the agency partnered with another local regulator, les Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR), to remind crypto ATM operators of their licensing requirements under the country’s Monetary and Financial Code.

In a press release, the AMF explained that it had noticed a surge in crypto ATM installations and deployments across the country. However, any company that seeks to operate these devices will have to register before proceeding.

“Registration entails, in particular, the setting up of an organization, procedures and internal control system capable of ensuring compliance with the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing (AML-FT) and enabling the freezing of assets,” the release added.

CONSOB’s Blacklisting Spree

Elsewhere, in Italy, the Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB), the country’s top securities regulator, has been on a rampant website blocking campaign recently.

The latest action took place on September 18, and it confirmed that the agency had blocked 284 websites since July 2019. These sites claim to specialize in offering forex and cryptocurrency trades, but none had gotten authorizations from the agency.

CONSOB added that most of these companies had shown significant signs of being fraudulent. The moves are coming as the European Union gears up to adopt a new set of cryptocurrency rules. According to a report from Reuters last week, the regional authority has published two documents outlining its mission to adopt digital finance as a means of enhancing its cross-border payments service.

“By 2024, the EU should put in place a comprehensive framework enabling the uptake of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and crypto-assets in the financial sector. It should also address the risks associated with these technologies,” one of the documents read.

As Reuters added, the E.U. is considering enforcing Anti-Money Laundering and identity verification to cryptocurrency transactions. Once done, it will be ready to adopt these assets into its financial regime.

French and Italian Regulators Go After Unlicensed Crypto Services

Source