Bitonic starts with Bitcoin exchange
According to some it is the latest speculative bubble, others call it the currency of the future. Either way, Bitcoin remains a hot topic, which is reflected by the exchange rate, climbing higher and higher. Increasingly more people are putting their trust in the coin and that’s a good reason for us to launch a European exchange platform this month.
Bitonic was started “in an attic room” by three friends and has since grown into a business with eight employees. Bitonic founders Jouke, Niels and Robert saw the enormous potential of Bitcoin and decided to make bitcoins easily accessible in The Netherlands in the beginning of 2012. “We experienced ourselves early on how troublesome and time-consuming it was to get our hands on bitcoins. By linking to the Dutch payment system iDeal we made it very easy for the Dutch to buy bitcoins” says Robert.
When Bitcoin attracted much publicity in April of last year, we saw an immediate rise in the demand for bitcoins. Since then, we’ve been working hard on the development of the Bitcoin exchange. “In addition to the increase of bitcoin purchases, we also saw an increase in the number of sales orders. As a result, we can keep the prices low which makes bitonic.nl interesting for most users. But a platform where buyers and sellers can negotiate their own prices offers more possibilities for, especially, the serious buyers. This is why we think the right time has come for a Dutch exchange that, in the long term, will become available across Europe.”
Many Bitcoin exchanges have sprung up across the globe, and some of them have gone down just as fast. Nonetheless, Bitonic sees an opportunity for a new exchange on the European market. “The best known exchange, MtGox, has been having difficulties with payments these last few months. Another exchange, with which we do business ourselves, is connected to a Slovenian bank. Multiple exchanges have closed because they did not comply with the regulations. We will be different, because we, together with a professional party, are in the process of submitting a license application with the Nederlandsche Bank (Dutch Central Bank).”
The Bitonic exchange has the codename “Bl3p” and is already available to private parties in a private environment. Starting early February, Dutch companies can register via www.bl3p.com. When the application has been approved (we’re expecting this to happen mid 2014) it will become available to the general public as well.