This February, the Finovate group will hold their conference, Finovate Europe, in the UK’s capital city of London. The US-based Finovate group, created in 1995, is one of the leading experts in research concerning banking technology and financial innovations. You might have heard the name if you have read the top notch research concerning banking and their publications of the online banking reports. They also run a very popular blog called NETbanker.com.
Finovate founder Jim Bruene was extremely interested in what innovations that Bitbond aim to bring to the table. Mr Bruene said:
“We’re excited to have Bitbond demo at FinovateEurope this year. Their solution which allows individuals to invest in a globally diversified loan portfolio at 0% fees is something we haven’t had at Finovate before. Moreover, Bitbond is the first company to pay for tickets with the digital currency Bitcoin. I hope that others will join them in doing so at our upcoming events.”
Bitbond is a Berlin based-company that offers an alternative source of finance for small businesses and individuals who struggle to raise funds via traditional means. Since its creation in July 2013, Bitbond has facilitated almost four hundred loans. In less than a year, Bitbond managed to accumulate over 7 000 users, spread over a hundred countries.
Bitbond’s CEO and Co-founder Radoslav Albrecht is not a rookie in the business. He has a background in economics and previously worked at Deutsche Bank. That Bitbond is serious in its goals is not in doubt, as they managed to secure $267,000 USD in August of 2014. Most of this investment came from the Berlin-based venture capital firm Point Nine Capital and from BillPay CEO Nelson Holzner.
A statement from Radoslav Albrecht:
“We are very excited to be able to showcase our products at FinovateEurope. This will allow us to demo our new AutoInvest feature in a 7-minute live demonstration at the upcoming fintech conference FinovateEurope in London on February 10th . . . This is not a great opportunity for Bitbond but also for the entire Bitcoin community . . . Bitbonds main focus is on the borrowers that have small businesses. Most of these small businesses that have been operating for two or three years, or maybe longer and cannot get finance from a bank.
If successful, Bitbond may be able to provide essential credit services to the Bitcoin sector. As in any economy, credit is important in the Bitcoin world for fostering growth and creating jobs. If Bitcoin is to become a large contributor to the global economy, a reliable source of credit will definitely be needed.
Do you think Bitcoin lending will play a significant role in the growth of the Bitcoin economy? Let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of Finovate, Venture Village, and Anthemis Group.