The Japanese multinational Sony is one of the main investors in the blockchain Bitwala financial startup, which is based in Germany. In the last round of financing, Bitwala raised over 13 million euros (more precisely 14.5 million dollars). This is the biggest financial round for a blockchain-based German startup.
Bitwala: Sony among the investors
Bitwala has specified that Sony Financial Ventures and the NKB Group have driven the new funding, while other existing investors such as Earlybird and coparion have contributed to the other half of the financing.
The funds will be used to expand the company’s customer base, to recruit new staff and to launch business-specific bitcoin accounts.
Bitwala offers a bank-like service based on cryptocurrencies, with the integration of a bitcoin wallet. In addition, it issues a debit card and provides trading options.
The Bitwala startup, on which Sony decided to focus, was the first to offer a banking service that combined a bank account with cryptocurrency trading and custody.
To be more specific, it allows its customers to trade bitcoins directly from one bank account to another, thanks to the services offered by solarisBank.
Guaranteed deposits up to 100,000 euros
The company claims to have customers in all 31 countries of the European Economic Area. Since the launch of its banking service at the end of last year, the company has stated that it has traded bitcoins for a value of over 11 million euros (about 12.25 million dollars).
Deposits of up to €100,000 will be protected by the European guarantee scheme, which ensures full repayment in the event of bankruptcy.
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”.
