Bitwala Launches Crypto Bank In Germany

Bitwala, a global blockchain-based payment service provider based in Berlin, Germany has launched a crypto banking service in the country. The company has also claimed that it the first ever company to do so. Bitwala was founded by Jörg von Minckwitz, Jan Goslicki, and Benjamin P. Jones in October 2015.

This German company uses cryptocurrency to provide a much faster and cheaper solution. Von Minckwitz, Goslicki, and Jones are longtime business partners. They have founded other blockchain businesses before Bitwala such as All4btc.com and Transistor Coworking. The transistor is Germany’s largest fintech coworking space. By using Bitwala people can buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly from their bank account.

According to the announcement, users now will be able to maintain both Bitcoin and Euro deposits in one place with the security and accessibility of a German bank account. Bitwala accounts offer a debit card and a built-in bitcoin wallet with combined cryptocurrency trading. All Euro deposits up to €100,000 are shielded by the German Deposit Guarantee Scheme (DGS) because the account is regulated in Germany by the BaFin (German financial regulator).

Jan Goslicki, Bitwala’s chief compliance officer and co-founder, said:

We were able to bring cryptocurrencies into a fully compliant banking setup regulated in Germany. This shows that cryptocurrencies can fit into regulatory frameworks which protect consumers and ultimately inspire trust.

The company is initially launching accounts in Germany and will expand in a few months. Onboarding will commence from the top of the list and they will be onboarding considerably more people in the upcoming months. The first 15,000 people on the company’s waitlist will get a confined edition card packaging once they place their card order. New clients along with the 40,000 pre-registered clients will be onboarded one after the other based on their waitlist place.

Ben Jones – Bitwala’s Chief Technical Officer and co-founder commented

We built the new account putting our customers first. No longer do they have to wire their liquidity to separate exchange accounts with frail fund protection measures outside of Germany. No longer do they have to accept excessive fees for trading. Trading with Bitwala is fast and reliable and our pricing highly competitive.

Clients will require to produce an ID and answer a few questions with the operator. This is a compulsory condition for opening bank accounts known as Know Your Customer or KYC.

Now, Bitcoin can be exchanged by pulling from the liquidity in the current account. The company further elaborated that its blockchain banking solution is completely acquiescent with the regulators. As mentioned earlier, all the Euro deposits of up to 100,000 Euro will be protected by law. The accounts will be entertained by solarisBank, the Berlin-based tech-platform with a banking license and therefore will be monitored by BaFin and Bundesbank, Germany’s banking authorities.

In the month of September 2018, Bitwala had launched a blockchain banking after raising €4 million from Earlybird and coparion. Bitwala is already backed by various investors such as N26, ShapeShift, and EyeEm. They have joined Bitwala’s family of investors with High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Digital Currency Group (DCG), and ALSTIN.

Bitwala’s banking partner provides SEPA debit and credit transactions, recurring payments and a debit card. It also gives a cryptocurrency wallet, which allows cryptocurrency trading with entrance to instant liquidity. Bitwala supports SEPA and SWIFT money transfers by transferring Bitcoin or Altcoins to more than 20 fiat currencies to any bank account in over 200 countries worldwide. It also provides a Bitcoin debit card and also functions as a bitcoin wallet service to save, transfer and receive Bitcoin.

Disclaimer: This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of any cryptocurrency. It is not a recommendation to trade. The crypto market is full of surprises and overhyped assets. Do your research before buying anything. Do not invest more than you can afford to lose.

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