UK Fintech Startup Revolut to Adopt Bitcoin and Move Beyond Banking

Revolut, the UK Fintech Startup, is adding bitcoin to its regiment of accepted currencies due to heavy customer demand. The company is touted as a global alternative banking platform, which provides customers with cards that can be used to purchase currency and products in multiple countries at the current exchange rate.

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The company has a total of 700,000 customers and 400,000 of them live in Britain. They offer between-bank exchange rates, and no fees on international money transfers. Revolut allows their customers to hold up to 16 currencies within their account at once.

Addition of Bitcoin and Recent Fund Raising Round

Revolut said users will now be able to leverage the functionality of bitcoin within their application in the same way they handle other currencies. They mentioned more cryptocurrencies will be added in the future. A Reuters article elaborated

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.

Recent $66 Million Fund Raising Round and Expansion Plans

This news of adding bitcoin comes alongside a recent fundraising round. The company’s official press release just mentioned they finalized acceptance of $66 million in fundraising from some of the UK’s most premier investors.

The press release said, “We are incredibly excited to announce that we have finalised a new round of $66m investment from some of Europe’s most well-known investors including Index Ventures, Balderton Capital and Ribbit Capital.”

The startup said it plans on using the funds to expand internationally, “With the aim of establishing ourselves as the number one platform for consumers and businesses to manage their finances.” They plan to gain ground in Asia and North America first. They also plan on implementing new features on their app, including the addition of bitcoin, with the present funding.

Lastly, the company wants to greatly scale their team up. They are slated to hire more team members, developers, and support staff.

Revolut Wants to Bypass the Bureaucracy of Banks

When Reuters asked why the Founder and CEO of Revolut, Nikolay Storonsky, about Revolut, he said he wanted an app that “acted like a bank but has less bureaucracy.” He continued:

I just don’t like banks. They’re so bureaucratic, with so many managers not really doing anything … If you fired 80 percent of bankers, nothing would change.

Do you think Revolut will revolutionize app-based banking? Will they succeed in their expansion plans? Let us know in the comments section below.

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