BitX to Expand Further in Emerging Markets with New Funding Deal

Emerging market-focused bitcoin exchange BitX has raised S$1m as part of its latest seed funding round.

AccessTimeIconAug 19, 2014 at 1:01 a.m. UTC
Updated Mar 2, 2023 at 10:32 p.m. UTC

Presented By Icon

Election 2024 coverage presented by

Stand with crypto

Emerging market-focused bitcoin services firm BitX has completed a SGD$1m ($824,000) seed funding round.

Investors include London-based Ariadne Capital, Barry Silbert’s New York-based Bitcoin Opportunity Corp (BOC) and Palo Alto-based financial innovation investor, Carol Realini.

  • Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
    13:18
    Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
  • Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
    05:10
    Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
  • The first video of the year 2024
    04:07
    The first video of the year 2024
  • The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
    40:07
    The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
  • CEO Marcus Swanepoel told CoinDesk the funding would help the Singapore-based firm accelerate its business, furthering international expansion of its wallet and exchange services, assist with merchant acquisition and help the company develop some new products it has in the pipeline.

    Silbert praised the BitX team's progress, saying:

    "In a very short period of time, the BitX team has successfully built a highly scalable, unique model that has enabled them to quickly grow a global footprint and demonstrate success in a number of markets […] BitX have a very strong team with a differentiated business model and a great track record.”

    Expanding via emerging markets

    BitX says it is building a global cryptocurrency platform that provides bitcoin products and services including wallets, exchanges, merchant integration and APIs to consumers, businesses and developers particularly in emerging markets.

    Dealing with the variety of regulations and levels of infrastructure in these markets could often slow progress for bitcoin companies, Swanepoel said, adding that he had years of experience working with both authorities and financial institutions in such places, and remained confident.

    Of Silbert's Bitcoin Opportunity Corp, he said:

    "They're bullish on emerging markets, so it plays well to our investment hypothesis."

    The need for and impact of cryptocurrencies will be the biggest in those markets, he said. BOC has also recently funded Mexico's Volabit and India's Unocoin, both bitcoin exchanges.

    BitX’s focus on emerging markets has lead to impressive momentum for the business. It now operates bitcoin wallet services across Africa, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, with active exchanges in South Africa, Namibia and Kenya.

    Investors praise unique strategy

    Other investors involved in the deal said they were attracted to the potential of BitX's focus on alternate markets in new areas.

    Julie Meyer, CEO of Ariadne Capital, commented that the investment reinforces Ariadne’s strategy of backing talented entrepreneurs and management teams building global companies that can disrupt on a large scale.

    Carol Realini added:

    "BitX has the right team and the right strategy to capitalize on the enormous opportunity for bitcoin in emerging markets. It is impressive how much they have already accomplished with multiple-country implementations and a major partnership."

    BitX also recently partnered with South African payment provider PayFast to provide the largest emerging market bitcoin merchant roll-out to date, enabling over 30,000 merchants the ability to accept bitcoin, including one of the largest e-commerce companies in Africa, Takealot.

    Disclosure

    Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information have been updated.

    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of the Bullish group, which owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish group equity-based compensation. Bullish was incubated by technology investor Block.one.


    Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.