Coinfloor kicks off Bitcoin operations with investment help from Passion Capital and Taavet Hinrikus

London-based Bitcoin start-up Coinfloor has launched with backing from Passion Capital and Transferwise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus.

Digital currency exchange business Coinfloor is open for business having secured the venture capital support needed to kick-start operations.

Investment has come in the shape of entrepreneurial venture capital firm Passion Capital and Taavet Hinrikus, the co-founder of Transferwise and the first ever Skype employee. The value of the round is undisclosed.

Having launched, Coinfloor has opened up account creation and deposits and says that trading will begin on 5 November. The business is hoping to become the ‘world’s most reputable and trustworthy digital currency exchange’.

Mark Lamb, CEO and co-founder of Coinfloor, says that users and traders ‘deserve’ a trustworthy exchange on which to conduct business.

He adds, ‘From the start, we’ve been committed to building and operating Coinfloor as a fully-compliant and professional financial services company and we look forward to helping to establish Bitcoin as a mass market asset.’

Coinfloor has partnered with banks to create secure bank accounts, of which the first in place when trading commences is a Santander majority-owned bank in Europe.

Coinfloor is not an FCA-regulated entity but has ‘received formal communication’ from the regulatory body outlining that regulation is not necessary right now. At this stage, the FCA does not classify Bitcoin as money, so does not receive monetary value.

Bitcoin is widely believed to have been created by Satoshi Nakomoto, who released the first Bitcoin software in 2009. Earlier in 2013, Bitcoin rose to prominence when online black market Silk Road, which exclusively used Bitcoins for transactions of goods including drugs and weapons, was shut down by the FBI.

Since then the digital currency has become more legitimised and has seen its value increase at a steady rate.

Stefan Glaenzer, partner at Passion Capital, comments, ‘It’s been a pleasure to be working with Mark and the team on creating the world’s most credible digital currency exchange.

‘As demand for Bitcoin increases, we believe there is a tremendous opportunity for services and teams willing to work transparently and diligently which Coinfloor surely represents.’

More on Passion Capital:

Between October 2012 and May 2013, six Bitcoin start-ups raised approximately $11.4 million, according to Dow Jones VentureSource. The largest round was secured by digital-wallet company Coinbase, which raised $5 million led by Union Square Ventures.

Hunter Ruthven

Bernard Williamson

Hunter was the Editor for GrowthBusiness.co.uk from 2012 to 2014, before moving on to Caspian Media Ltd to be Editor of Real Business.

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Venture capital funding