Based in Berlin, the platform of p2p-lending Bitbond is known as one of the few companies, offering the possibility of granting and obtaining loans in bitcoins. And according to the founder and CEO of Bitbond, Radoslav Albrecht, the use of cryptocurrency helps to bypass the SWIFT system – the world’s leading provider of financial services, reports Reuters.
“Traditional money transfers are relatively expensive because of the commissions for currency exchange and can take several days. Bitbond provides independent work payments wherever customers are. Thanks to the Internet, things happen very fast and with low commissions,” said Radoslav Albrecht.
Bitbond model assumes that customers hold bitcoins for a few seconds or minutes, after which they are converted into the currency of the country where the recipient of the loan. In addition to this, it also avoids problems that could occur due to frequently changing course.
Platform Bitbond started back in 2013, and in 2016 received a license from the financial regulator of Germany (BaFin), thus becoming a certified banking institution and one of the few in this niche fully regulated financial services providers.
Loans to platform users represent individual and institutional investors who benefit at the expense of attractive interest rates. Most borrowers online merchants that have their own marketplace platforms like eBay and Amazon and in need of working capital.
At the moment the company has 24 employees in 12 countries, and the volume of monthly loans is about $1 million As noted by Albrecht, the size of most loans do not exceed $50 000.
In 2017 Bitbond has twice attracted external funding — $1.2 million angel investment and an additional 5 million euros from the company Obotritia Capital, which received a share in a startup.
The company is also known as the Creator of BitcoinPPI — index tracking the value of bitcoin to big Mac.
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