Revolut Raises $250 Million, Adds Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and XRP

The European alternative banking app designed for the globally mobile generation, Revolut, has just secured a major infusion of capital. With the new funding at hand the startup will be expanding to new markets around the world and add new features such as support for BCH and XRP to its crypto service.

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Europe’s New Unicorn

London-based alternative digital banking startup Revolut has announced today it just raised a Series C investment round of $250 million meaning the company is now valued at $1.7 billion. The new round of funding was led by Hong-Kong based DST Global with existing investors Index Ventures and Ribbit Capital also participating.

The startup was only launched in July 2015, making Revolut one of the fastest companies in Europe to reach the coveted unicorn status. Its services include pre-paid debit cards (Mastercard or VISA), fiat currency exchange, cryptocurrency buying and exchange, peer-to-peer payments, remittances, personal loans, travel insurance and international money transfers.

To celebrate the successful funding round, the company’s cryptocurrency service Revolut Crypto will be getting two new currencies added to its existing lineup. “We’re extremely proud to announce that we will be adding Ripple (XRP) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), alongside the current Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC) and Ether (ETH).”

Global Expansion

Besides the founding round, the company also shared today parts of its future roadmap. The first step appears to be hiring a lot of new employees. The team said: “Over the last 12 months, we’ve built up a reputation for moving faster than anyone else in the fintech space, and we don’t want to give up our crown anytime soon. That’s why we’re looking to hire as many talented developers and designers as possible, as we begin to scale the company globally.”

Revolut will also be expanding into North America and Asia with the new funding. The service will launch this year in the US, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, with many more countries promised to be in the pipeline. The company says that over 100,000 people have signed up to their waiting lists, across the world, with thousands joining every day. They commented: “By expanding overseas, we will be empowering millions of people to take control over their financial lives, and in the process, we will be reducing the cost of international transfers by partnering with the best players in the financial world.”

Finally, they also plan to add a new service for securities investments. “Revolut Wealth will be our next milestone, as we expand our services to allow our users to invest their funds into stocks, indexes and exchange traded funds (ETFs), alongside a variety of other financial instruments.”

Are you more likely to use Revolut now that it is adding support for BCH? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Revolut.

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