Btc.sx

Btc.sx
Type of site
Private
Headquarters London
Area served Worldwide
Key people Joseph Lee (Founder and CEO), George Samman (Co-Founder), Vincent Hoong (Co-Founder)
Products Margin Trading, Derivative Trading
Website Btc.sx
Launched May, 2013

Btc.sx is a multinational company that engages in bitcoin trading and brokerage. The company offers a trading platform in digital currency derivatives such as margin trading to retail traders. It was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in London's Silicon Roundabout. ZDNet reports Btc.sx to be one of the first bitcoin companies that voided the necessity of all other currencies other than Bitcoin.[1] The company was launched from Sydney, Australia, and is run by CEO Joseph Lee who co-founded the company alongside George Samman and Vincent Hoong.[2] Shortly after its launch, Lee moved operations to London favouring a dual incorporation model between Singapore and United Kingdom.[3] The company also has operations in New York City.

Service disruptions

In February 2014 Mt. Gox was struck by a theft, it was the world's largest bitcoin exchange and at its peak handled 70% of all bitcoin trades.[4] The loss of 750,000 bitcoins (at the time worth over $350m) triggered immediate insolvency and caused its subsequent collapse.[5] Following a trading suspension issued by Btc.sx, it was revealed that Btc.sx had partnered with Mt. Gox to offer its brokered trading service and suffered from undisclosed losses as a result of the collapse.[6]

Reception

Following the Mt. Gox collapse, Btc.sx announced a new exchange partnership with Bitstamp now placing its orders out to market.[7] The trading platform announced in March 2014 the brokerage of over $40m in brokered transactions.[8]

Capital investments

In April 2014, Btc.sx received 500 bitcoins from the seed accelerator, SeedCoin in its first fund raising round.[9] The company has received a total of US$0.45 million investment as a result of initial capital injections and its equity fundraising activities.[10]

Regulation

Btc.sx operates in a climate of regulatory uncertainty with no specific laws enforced to provide protection to its clients globally. The New York State Department of Financial Services who is overseen by Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky hopes to be the first regulatory body to provide a full framework for virtual currency businesses.[11] The DFS guidelines are perceived by many bitcoin companies to be overbearing with fierce opposition coming from Jeremy Allaire, CEO of bitcoin startup Circle.[12] With operations in New York, the BitLicense regulations will directly affect Btc.sx and similar bitcoin businesses.

References

  1. Lee, Michael (2013-08-22). "Startup opens Bitcoin-only margin trading platform". ZDNet.
  2. "About the Btc.sx Team". Btc.sx. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  3. Hutchinson, James (2014-01-08). "Tech start-ups leave Oz over tax". Australian Financial Review.
  4. Vigna, Paul (2014-02-25). "5 things about Mt. Gox's crisis". The Wall Street Journal.
  5. Hern, Alex (2014-02-25). "Bitcoin exchange MtGox offline amid rumours of theft". The Guardian.
  6. Rizzo, Pete (2014-02-25). "Bitcoin Derivatives Market Btc.sx Suspends Trading Amid Turmoil at Partner Mt. Gox". CoinDesk.
  7. "Normal Trading Resumed". Btc.sx. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  8. Bradbury, Danny (2014-05-12). "Bitcoin Derivatives Platform BTC.SX Resumes Trading After Mt Gox-Induced Freeze". CoinDesk.
  9. Bradbury, Danny (2014-04-01). "Trading Site BTC.SX Receives 500 Bitcoins in Seedcoin Funding Round". CoinDesk.
  10. Lee, Michael (2013-08-22). "Startup opens Bitcoin-only margin trading platform". ZDNet.
  11. "NY DFS RELEASES PROPOSED BITLICENSE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR VIRTUAL CURRENCY FIRMS". New York State Department of Financial Services. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  12. Higgins, Stan (2013-08-13). "Circle: BitLicense Would Force Us to Block New York Customers". CoinDesk.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bitcoin.
Look up btc.sx in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.