A group of big-name technology entrepreneurs are throwing their weight behind a new platform dedicated to trading in "bitcoin," an emerging alternative to paper money.

Bitcoin, which began its life in 2009, is now a fast-growing virtual currency. The mostly paperless trades take place on approved Internet websites and mobile-phone applications, allowing users to make purchases and invest in the currency the way they would do dollars and euros.

A new platform called Coinsetter is launching late in the second quarter that will be first to allow participants to trade bitcoin using borrowed money, knowing as trading on "margin," or to make bets against its value.

Coinsetter last week raised $500,000 from a host of enterprenuers, said its founder Jaron Lukasiewicz, who most recently was an associate at Houston private equity firm The CapStreet Group and previously worked at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

Among the backers are Barry Silbert, founder of illiquid securities trading platform SecondMarket; New-York based Tribeca Venture Partners; Charles Songhurst, head of corporate strategy at Microsoft ; and Ben Davenport, founder of group messaging service Beluga, which was acquired by Facebook in 2011.