Tag Archives: exchange
Australian Bitcoin Exchange CoinJar Raises $500,000 AUD
CoinJar, a consumer Bitcoin exchange and digital wallet provider, has secured a round of equity investment from several prominent Australian technology investors.
Leading the investment is Niki Scevak of Blackbird Ventures. Other investors include entrepreneur Torsten Hoffman; RetailMeNot founders, Guy King and Bevan Clark; game developer Rob Murray; and serial technology investor Chris Hitchen. The combined investment is reportedly in the region of $500,000 AUD.
“Bitcoin is a game-changer, but the process of buying, selling and using Bitcoin is still relatively hard. CoinJar changes that by making Bitcoin more accessible and, eventually much more useful. Their approach of offering a secure consumer wallet and merchant payment capability for bitcoin in addition to a liquid exchange is what makes them interesting; as consumer and business adoption of Bitcoin becomes more mainstream, CoinJar is well-placed to be a significant participant,” said investor, Chris Hitchen. “The team, product and vision are all strong and I’m excited to be involved.”
The Melbourne based startup co-founded by Asher Tan and Ryan Zhou operates a platform where users can buy, sell and transact in bitcoin. It also provides merchant services for those looking to accept bitcoin as a medium of payment.
Bitcoin companies have gained strong interest from venture capital firms around the world as interest in the cryptocurrency, along with its price, has risen to new heights. China and Singapore are among the countries which have recently seen a wave of Bitcoin related investment deals.
“Bitcoin is moving past a purely speculative play. It is only a matter of time until business and consumers take full advantage of Bitcoin as a solution to digital payments,” said Asher Tan, co-founder and CEO of CoinJar. The company has already seen partnerships with a wide-range of goods and services providers including Australian utility vehicle producer Tomcar and crowd funding website, Pozible.
With over 10,000 Australian users, the company is looking to expand globally. CoinJar is a graduate of Australian startup incubator, AngelCube.
Bitcoin Exchanges Plagued by Liquidity Issues and Attacks
Dramatic Changes in Bitcoin Price Affect Liquidity
Yesterday was an extremely positive day for Bitcoin. Senator Tom Carper held a Senate Committee hearing to discuss the legal and business implications of Bitcoin’s ever-growing popularity.
Overall, the tone of the session was one of open-mindedness and desire to learn more about the digital currency. The representatives from FinCEN and the Attorney General explicitly stated that digital currency, in and of itself, is not illegal.
Related: Read our full summary of the Senate Committee hearing on Bitcoin
In response, Bitcoin’s price skyrocketed to over $900, a new all-time high. Bitcoin donned the front page of the Wall Street Journal this morning, was discussed on NPR, and made its way into every mainstream media outlet.
Then, the problems started. With increased interest and positive sentiment in Bitcoin came increased trading volume, and many trading platforms just could not handle the demand. And in response, the price of Bitcoin dropped back down to $500.
Liquidity Issues at Exchanges
Coinbase, a US-based startup, suddenly announced that it was hitting its normal buy limits and warned users that, while they could place orders, these orders would not be priced for up to 5 days. At Coinbase, investors cannot buy Bitcoin reliably. Note that Coinbase is not technically an exchange, but because of its ease-of-use and trustworthiness, many investors go to Coinbase to buy Bitcoin.
Mt.Gox, a Japan-based exchange, continues to have USD withdrawal liquidity issues. At Mt.Gox, investors cannot sell Bitcoin reliably.
Bitstamp, a Slovenia-based exchange, was hit with a DDOS (denial of service) attack this morning and went down just when the price dropped and investors wanted to buy.
Coinsetter, a relatively new trading platform, does not yet allow wire transfers from US customers and has trade minimums of 1 BTC.
Related: Coinsetter Launches US-Based Bitcoin Forex Trading Platform
These liquidity issues are a symptom of the reality that it is still early days for Bitcoin and demand is growing incredibly fast. But the problems these exchanges have experienced also highlight the risk in being a currency speculator in Bitcoin. You may be able to buy low or sell high, but perhaps not both on the same day.
Note: Other exchanges exist that were not profiled, namely BTC China (now the largest Bitcoin exchange in the world), BTC-e, and others. Read our comparison of exchanges and Bitcoin wallets to learn more.
CoinDesk Launches Bitcoin Price Index to Consolidate Exchange Spread
Bitcoin news source CoinDesk has launched a price index, intended to consolidate the prices Bitcoin is traded at across various exchanges.
The CoinDesk index represents an average of leading global Bitcoin exchanges but the formula is flexible enough to maintain only those exchange rates that conform to certain minimum criteria for price discovery and validity. Initially, those specific criteria are defined as:
(a) exchange must serve an international customer base;
(b) minimum trade size must be less than 1,500 USD or equivalent;
(c) banking transfers in or out of the exchange must be completed within seven days without special fees.
CoinDesk wrote on the occasion, “Mr. Charles Dow and Mr. Edward Jones probably felt this way at the launch of their now-famous average,” humbly comparing their new Bitcoin index to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a stock market index originally conceived in 1896.
Here is an example of the spread between different Bitcoin exchanges.
This index has the potential to provide a single price to investors tracking the alternative currency.
CoinDesk is a news site launched in May 2013.
Top Bitcoin News Last Week: Tradehill, Regulation, ATM, FinCEN, More
Bitcoin News
A roundup of the top Bitcoin news from August 26 to September 1:
Tuesday, August 27
Wednesday, August 28
Thursday, August 29
Friday, August 30
Bitcoin Exchange Tradehill Suspends Trading Due to Regulation Concerns
More Troubles for Bitcoin Exchange Tradehill
Tradehill is a US-based Bitcoin exchange that has grown in popularity as the chief competitor to Japan-based Mt. Gox. Tradehill has tried to position itself as an exchange for traders, especially those looking to move larger blocks of BTC.
Now the company has run into troubles, and has posted a bulletin on its site notifying users that it has suspended trading “due to banking and regulatory issues.”
In February 2012, Tradehill shut down “due to increased regulation” and a dispute of $100,000 with one of its payment processors. CEO Jered Kenna posted the announcement on Bitcointalk. The company later bounced back from this issues and has been on the rise, until this latest suspension of business.
Below is the full bulletin from Tradehill. We have reached out to the company for further comment.
Many of you have come to know Tradehill as the digital currency exchange of choice over the last six months. We have appreciated your patronage and have delighted in providing a reliable service to help you reach deep liquidity in the Bitcoin market. We have recently made the decision to temporarily suspend trading on the Tradehill platform, due to banking and regulatory issues. This decision has not been made lightly and we regret having to take such action. However, we embrace the silver lining of our situation and plan to take this opportunity to upgrade, improve, and polish our trading platform.
Tradehill registered with FinCEN in August 2013 and is actively engaging with banks and regulators to continue development of future business products and practices.
We would like to thank our clients, current and past partners, supporters, and advocates for all their continued support. The Bitcoin space has proven to be an exciting and dynamic environment. We are proud to have the opportunity to be at the forefront of this new domain.
[Update 11:15AM PT: Tradehill shared with On Bitcoin the following details around their suspended trading]
The Internet Archive Federal Credit Union has experienced operational and regulatory issues and we are no longer able to continue our developing relationship. Both Tradehill and IAFCU were excited about this relationship and both regret this unfortunate outcome. Tradehill’s integration with IAFCU had allowed for clients to buy Bitcoin with a balance in an account with their own name. This allowed clients to trade Bitcoin with funds that were stored in a federally insured institution.
Our clients still have full access to their funds. We are consulting with regulators to define the most appropriate licensing strategy for our current and future business practices. We are also actively engaging with banks and regulators to continue development of best practices for Bitcoin regulation and compliance.
This is only a temporary suspension of trading. We are continuing with planned development of our trading platform, to provide an improved user experience, as well as additional planned products. We hope to resume trading operations soon.
