U.K-based crypto exchange Coinfloor, which made news last year by delisting ethereum to focus solely on bitcoin, is launching a simplified buying service.
Going live next month, Coinfloor, the longest-running crypto exchange in the U.K., is providing an “Auto Buy” service aimed at bitcoin (BTC) newbies and hodlers alike, as opposed to sophisticated trading types.
It’s all part of Coinfloor’s “no BS” approach to crypto, said CEO Obi Nwosu, who wants to educate new users as well as offer full transparency in the form of monthly proof-of-custody audits of all the coins held on the platform.
“There are maybe 5 percent of people who are either trading professionals or who like to speculate – for them high-volatility trading is fine. But we want to make the exchange for the other 95 percent who don't want their currency to be volatile. Our idea is to try and make buying bitcoins boring,” said Nwosu.
Coinfloor’s Auto Buy uses dollar-cost averaging so that users who might be queasy about bitcoin volatility can buy small amounts on a regular basis over the long term. These purchases once set up are done via bank transfer using the U.K.’s Faster Payments system.
Nwosu said it comes down to advising people to start with amounts as little as £10 (US$13) per week “buying bitcoin regularly in the background at an amount that’s very comfortable for them.”
“If you are going to do it, you are going to want to do it with an asset that has the longest track record of growth and the highest likelihood of growth in the future, and that’s bitcoin,” said Nwosu.
Coinfloor is proud of its bitcoin audit service, which the exchange has been releasing every month for some six years now. It consists of a time-stamped and transparent list of all the balances being held for pseudonymous customers.
A number of large crypto exchanges agreed to provide crypto solvency audits following the notorious collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange, but none of them kept to it, Nwosu said.
Pointing to this week’s FCoin debacle, Nwosu asked why exchanges are not providing proof of custody.
FCoin "was insolvent. Maybe for over a year. Bitcoin audits would have solved this,” he said.