UK's payment startup Revolut raises $66M, to add Bitcoin

The "global banking alternative" Revolut has raised $66 million in a fund-raising round, the start-up said on Wednesday, in the latest sign that London is so far weathering Brexit to remain a global financial-technology center.



Led by Europe- and San Francisco-based venture capital fund Index Ventures, the fund-raising round was one of the biggest ever Series B rounds in Europe. It should provide some comfort to the British capitol as it jostles to hold onto its reputation as Europe's leading hub for the nascent fintech sector.



Revolut, which has around 700,000 customers, over 400,000 of them based in Britain, provides payment cards that can be used abroad to pay for goods and services at the exchange rate used by banks anywhere that Mastercard is accepted.



Revolut also announced that it is adding digital currency bitcoin BTC=BTSP to its app in response to high demand from customers. Users will now be able to hold, exchange, spend and transfer bitcoin the same way they use other currencies. Rival cryptocurrencies Ether and Litecoin will soon be added.