Bitpanda, a European platform for trading cryptocurrencies, raised $263 million in a new round of funding on Tuesday, August 17, 2021. As a result, the company is now valued at $4.1 billion. That’s a whopping three times the company’s value after its last funding round ($1.2 billion), in which it raised $500 million.
What is Bitpanda?
Bitpanda is a fintech startup founded in 2014 in Vienna by Eric Demuth, Paul Klanschek, and Christian Trummer, who still sit on the company’s board. The company gained popularity by selling Bitcoin (BTC) within Europe. Currently, Bitpanda has almost 50 cryptocurrencies on offer, but there’s more! What sets it apart from other cryptocurrency exchanges is the fact that Bitpanda is not just limited to trading cryptocurrencies. You can also trade stocks and precious metals using this site.
Bitpanda – one of the few fintech start-ups operating profitably?
It turns out that Bitpanda’s funding is most justified. This is because it is one of the few fintech start-ups that operate at a profit! Here’s what Eric Demuth, Bitpanda’s co-founder, says about it: “We’ve been profitable for five years now, consistently, every year. In addition, it is estimated that the company has achieved 6x customer growth every year, while its revenue has increased as much as 7x since 2020. This information raises high hopes for the future!
Bitpanda announces that it intends to use the capital from the new funding round to spur growth and development, as well as new product launches. The company also aims to expand into key international markets, including: Spain and Italy. As of this moment, the company has 3 million users, of which 1.2 million were acquired in the first half of 2021 alone.
Cryptocurrencies boom
Bitpanda’s rise in value comes at a time of a “cryptocurrency boom,” as it has recently seen an incredible amount of popularity for investing in the cryptocurrency space. Just look at the popular cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which last month (July 2021) raised $900 million during just one round of funding, thus achieving a valuation of $18 billion. With the rapid rise in prices of some cryptocurrencies, there could be more and more similar events. It is now that more investors than ever are interested in blockchain technology, and they see the future of finance in it.
