Bitwala, a German-based bitcoin enabled banking platform available in the EU, today announced the launch of new apps for iOS and Android.
Berlin-headquartered Bitwala enables customers in 31 European countries to buy, sell, and store bitcoin. Bitwala is the only banking service presently active in the European Economic Area offering a current account with a built-in bitcoin wallet and trading.
The current accounts are hosted by solarisBank, the Berlin-based tech platform with a German banking license, and are supervised by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).
“Our developers have been working hard for months to provide our users with the best app experience possible. We are particularly proud, to have reduced the onboarding time for new customers. Onboarding is now directly integrated into the app. Once you have an account, you can seamlessly integrate your daily banking activities – whether in bitcoin or Euro – into your everyday life.”
– Benjamin Jones, Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of Bitwala
Verification
The video identification process is fully integrated into the mobile app. In order to verify residents in the European Economic Area, a valid national ID card or passport and proof of address are required. In all, the verification only takes a few minutes, afterward the account is instantly ready to receive and send Euros or bitcoin.
With the integrated Bitcoin wallet users can buy and sell bitcoin directly from their bank account. The balance in EUR or BTC is available on the account within the hour. On top, the Bitwala wallet features innovative peer-to-peer functionalities such as transferring bitcoin between friends and family: users can easily send and receive bitcoin, or request a specific amount of bitcoin via QR code. Transactions in the wallet can be authorized by using biometrics.
“With Bitwala your bitcoin are booked directly on the Blockchain via a multi-signature wallet. This is another way of saying that hacking Bitwala is as useless as breaking the Blockchain itself and that our customers are fully in control of their Bitcoin wallets at all times. Therefore, we are the safest way to buy, sell, and store bitcoin – now even on your smartphone.”
– Christoph Iwaniez, Chief Financial Officer at Bitwala
Bitwala was founded in 2015 by Jan Goslicki, Benjamin Jones and Jörg von Minckwitz. Christoph Iwaniez and Philipp Beer joined the management team since then. The total team presently consists of more than 40 employees. Bitwala’s investors include Earlybird Venture Capital, coparion, Global Brain and Sony Financial Ventures, NKB Group, High Tech Gründerfonds, ALSTIN, and Digital Currency Group.
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