Northern Bitcoin, Rawpool Sign Wallet and Mining Deal

Germany’s Northern Bitcoin AG (MUN:NB2) has agreed to offer Bpal Wallet, a wallet and payments app created by China-based Rawpool Group, in the European market. The agreement between the Munich-listed company and the bitcoin cash (BCH) miner, effective from today, also covers mining operations and cryptocurrency exchanges. Shares of Frankfurt-based Northern Bitcoin AG rose 2.8 percent on the news.

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Northern Bitcoin to Offer Bpal Wallet in EU,

Expand Mining Operations

Northern Bitcoin CEO Mathis Schultz said Bpal Wallet — a digital application that stores, receives and dispatches cryptocurrencies — will be launched in the 28 countries of the European Union in the coming months.

Schultz said that with Bpal Wallet, Northern Bitcoin will enter into cryptocurrency-related agreements with financial institutions such as banks and stock exchanges throughout the world. The wallet supports both BCH and bitcoin core (BTC).

In the mining sphere, German’s only publicly traded cryptocurrency company — currently valued at $152.6 million — will leverage Rawpool’s dominance in the mining of digital coins, particularly BCH, to gain access to low-cost mining hardware, Schultz said. Rawpool’s mining operations account for about one-third of all BCH-mined blocks in the world, the biggest of any mining pool.

Northern Bitcoin plans to use the deal to expand its mining operations in Norway via negotiated lower energy costs. The company will also diversify its business, which has been mining-oriented until now, by setting up multiple digital currency exchanges across Europe, in cooperation with Bi.top Exchanges, a unit of Crowdfund Group Inc., the U.S. owners of Rawpool.

“The strategic collaboration with Rawpool takes Northern Bitcoin into a whole new dimension,” Schultz said in an online statement.

“It is great evidence of the impressive growth momentum that we, as the world’s leading sustainable bitcoin mining company, have developed successfully in the shortest possible time.”

Northern Bitcoin Shares Rise

After Deal Announcement

Northern Bitcoin, formerly Biosilu-Healthcare AG, runs its mining rigs in Norway, which the company claims are 100%-powered by renewable energy from hydro and wind power facilities. The network is designed to allow its users to contribute to the mining of cryptocurrencies, with the rewards split among the contributors.

The German miner reported a $1.72 million net loss in the six months to June 2018. Last week, it listed its shares on M:Access, a secondary market for medium-size enterprises on the Munich Stock Exchange. Previously, the company had traded on the Munich exchange’s over-the-counter market, which is a rung below its current listing.

Shares of Northern Bitcoin rose just under 3 percent to $20.52 on the Munich exchange after the deal was announced. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has reached a high of $58 and a low of $1.

Rawpool Dominates Bitcoin Cash Mining

“With Northern Bitcoin, we have found the perfect partner to introduce our rapidly-growing activities to the European market,” said David Li, founder and chief executive of Rawpool Group. “We see our agreement as the start of a great partnership and are aware that we can dominate the market with combined forces.”

In September, Rawpool became the world’s biggest miner of BCH, overtaking mining pools such as Coingeek, BMG Pool and Antpool. Li said at the time that his focus was on testing the bigger blocks offered on the BCH blockchain, but not for the BTC blockchain. “There’s lots of things to do besides the price of coins,” he said.

What do you think about Rawpool dominating the mining of BCH? Let us know in the comments section below.

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