Tech
UK cryptocurrency startups coin the future of fintech in 2021
Bitcoin has been in the spotlight for several months now for different reasons. The digital currency created by the mysterious and pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto has seen a notable rise in 2020 amid the COVID pandemic, Brexit, and more. Since then, Bitcoin has been in the headlines every day and at the same time has driven up the prices of other cryptocurrencies.
Tesla invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin
In a recent development in the cryptocurrency industry, Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, announced that his company Tesla has invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin and intends to start accepting the currency as payment.
According to the company archiving, “In January 2021, we updated our investment policy to provide us with greater flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash that is not required to maintain adequate operating liquidity. As part of our policy, we may invest a portion of such cash in certain specified alternative reserve assets. Subsequently, under this policy, we invested a total of $1.50 billion in bitcoin. We expect to begin accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis, which we may or may not liquidate upon receipt.”
Bitcoin jumped 15%
Following the announcement, Bitcoin price rose to an all-time high of $48,034 (15% increase). As of this writing, Bitcoin sits at $46,943.
Following the announcement, many analysts highlighted bitcoin’s extreme volatility, highlighting the fact that investors could be wiped out if the digital currency collapses in the future.
On the other hand, Musk also posted a series of tweets about the alternative cryptocurrency Dogecoin, leading to an increase in the value of the cryptocurrency.
Well, it’s not just about Elon Musk and Tesla. Numerous companies and startups in the UK are focusing on cryptocurrencies and Blockchain as this is the next big transformation in the fintech sector. Having said that, here is the list of 10 companies working on cryptocurrencies in the UK that you should know about.
Silent in winter
Founder(s).: Evgeny Gaevoy, Harro Mantel, Yoann Turpin
Financing: £17.2 million
Silent in winter was founded in 2017 with the mission of providing much-needed liquidity to the cryptocurrency markets, thus contributing to the adoption of new decentralized finance.
Nebeus
Founder(s): Konstantin Zaripov, Sergey Romanovskiy
Financing: £4.5 million
This Company based in London bridges the gap between cryptocurrencies and cash, providing people with cryptocurrency-backed instant cash services for everyday use. Nebeus offers a range of secure and compliant solutions that allow customers to borrow, earn, send and receive cash and cryptocurrencies with complete safety.
Coinregulate
Founder(s): Gabriele Musella, Oleg Giberstein, Zdenek Hofler
Financing: £941,000
Coinrule is the intelligent cryptocurrency trading assistant, allowing users to take full control of their trading while being able to thwart hedge funds and automated bots. According to the company, it is simple and does not require coding skills.
Radix DLT
Founder(s): Dan Hughes
Financing: £16.2 million
Radix DLT, a London-based DeFi (decentralized finance) startup is building a decentralized financial protocol, which provides frictionless access, programmability and liquidity to any asset in the world. The company aims to solve many of the pain points of today’s centralized financial system.
Wirex
Founder(s): Dmitry Lazarichev, Georgy Sokolov, Pavel Matveev
Financing: £5.7 million
Based in London, Wirex aims to make cryptocurrencies and traditional currencies equal and accessible to all. The company’s app and next-generation Wirex card allow users to buy, store, exchange and spend a wide variety of conventional and digital currencies quickly and securely, with no hidden fees.
Ziglu
Founder(s): Mark Hipperson, Niall McConnell, Philip Goffin
Financing: £11.4 million
Ziglu, the personal money app offers an account with traditional and digital currencies managed seamlessly in one app. The cryptocurrency platform offers everyone easy access to digital currencies including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, Litecoin and XRP, with no hidden fees or transaction fees.
moon
Founder(s).: Carel van Wyk, Marcus Swanepoel, Pieter Heyns, Timothy Stranex
Financing: £9.9m
Based in London, moon is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that allows users to buy, store and learn about cryptocurrencies. The company has a mission to upgrade the world towards a better financial system. Luno operates in 40 countries in Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe and employs approximately 250 people.
Silver
Founder(s): Gerald Goldstein, Itamar Lesuisse, Julien Niset
Financing: £11.5m
Based in London, Silver is an Ethereum wallet for iOS and Android. With this platform users can earn interest and invest; borrow, store and send. The platform also allows users to access DeFi and Dapps in just a few taps.
Coinpass
Founder(s): Jason Fitzpatrick, Jeff Hancock, Paul Tiley
Financing: N/A
Coinpass is a UK based cryptocurrency exchange platform, founded to meet the demand for fast, reliable, professional and high quality financial services products for cryptocurrency to fiat trading in the UK. The company aims to be the global leader in the digital finance space by seeking to bridge the gap between traditional finance and digital assets.
Coinfirm
Founder(s): Grant Blaisdell, Jakub Fijolek, Maciej Ziolkowski, Pawel Aleksander, Pawel Kuskowski
Financing: £11.5m
Based in London, Coinfirm offers anti-money laundering and regulatory technology for blockchain and cryptocurrencies. It offers the broadest blockchain coverage in the industry, supporting over 1,400 cryptocurrencies and protocols including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Hyperledger, and many more.
The company’s solutions are used by market leaders globally, from cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and protocols like XRP, to major financial institutions like PKO BP.
Copper
Founder(s): Dmitry Tokarev, CEO
Financing: £6.7 million
Copper is a London-based digital asset infrastructure provider. The company provides custody and prime brokerage services to over 200 institutional clients, including traders, wealth firms, private banks, family offices and cryptocurrency funds.
Using proprietary technologies, including Copper ClearLoop and Walled Garden, Copper facilitates secure, instant, offline transaction settlement for more than 150 digital assets, across more than 25 global exchanges.
Copper’s fully integrated products are unique in the cryptocurrency industry. Backed by award-winning custody, Copper has created the complete and secure suite of tools and services needed to securely acquire, trade and store cryptocurrencies, including access to margin lending trading facilities and the DeFi space.