Sony Co-Leads €13 Million Raise for Crypto Banking Startup Bitwala

Bitwala raised almost $14.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Sony Financial Ventures and NKB Group.

AccessTimeIconJul 31, 2019 at 10:33 a.m. UTC
Updated Aug 18, 2021 at 11:36 p.m. UTC

Presented By Icon

Election 2024 coverage presented by

Stand with crypto

Germany-based blockchain finance firm Bitwala has raised €13 million (almost $14.5 million) in a Series A funding round.

Claiming it as the biggest equity round for a German blockchain startup, Bitwala announced Wednesday that Sony Financial Ventures and NKB Group led the raise, while existing investors Earlybird and coparion contributed half of the funding.

  • 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
  • The funds will go toward growing the firm's customer base, adding new staff and launching bitcoin accounts for businesses.

    Bitwala offers a crypto banking service with a built-in bitcoin wallet, debit card and trading options. It notable allows customers to trade bitcoin directly out of a current account, thanks to services offered by solarisBank.

    The firm said it now has retail customers in all 31 countries of the European Economic Area. Since it launched its banking service late last year, the firm says it's traded bitcoin to the value of over €11 million ($12.26 million). Deposits of up to €100,000 ($111,460) are protected under German deposit guarantee schemes.

    Bitwala’s co-founder and CTO, Ben Jones, said:

    “Today, we are offering a bridge for both mainstream users and blockchain buffs, who want to interact with the emerging blockchain ecosystem – the growing digital economy spreading across the globe. While there is still huge upside potential, it has already been a humbling experience to see the ecosystem grow and for Bitwala to play such an important part in that.”

    App image via Bitwala

    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.