The Japanese corporation Sony, through its venture division Sony Financial Ventures and the investment firm NKB Group, led a round of financing of Series A for €13 million (about $14.5 million) of the Bitcoin-banking platform Bitwala. According to representatives of the company based in Berlin, these are the largest investments in German cryptocurrency projects of all time.
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Earlybird and Coparion, which have previously invested in Bitwala, are other participants in the round.
In a statement, the company said that the funds raised will be used to expand the user base and staff, as well as to launch Bitcoin accounts for companies.
Last December, Bitwala officially launched its updated cryptocurrency service, offering users a single bank account with support for Bitcoin and fiat and debit cards. Thanks to the partnership with solarisBank, platform users can also trade Bitcoin directly from their account.
At the moment, according to company representatives, its users are residents of the entire 31 countries of the European Economic Area, and since the end of last year, the volume of bitcoin exchange transactions amounted to €11 million.
Earlier, Bitwala announced the reformatting of the business. The reason was the closure of its bank accounts and the shutdown of services related to the issuance and servicing of prepaid cards.
Before that, the company received a venture capital investment of €800 thousand for the development of the payment system, the expansion of the team and the increase in the customer base. Despite the forced change of course, in September last year, Bitwala received another $4 million in the course of the next round of investment.