Bison

Börse Stuttgart, the second largest stock exchange in Germany, is to launch a cryptocurrency trading application later this year.

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The app, called ‘Bison’, will be launched by the fintech arm of the bourse, Sowa Labs. According to the official website the app will not charge trading fees. Features will include a social media analysis tool which will filter thousands of Twitter posts in order to keep the user informed of market sentiment. It will initially offer Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple trading, with more to be added soon.

A prototype of the application will be displayed at a trade show in Stuttgart this week, according to CoinDesk.

Ulli Spankowski, managing director of Sowa Labs, said: “Bison makes trading in digital currencies easy. It is the first crypto app in the world to have a traditional stock exchange behind it.”

Börse Stuttgart was established in 1860 and in January 2018 reported turnover of €7.5 billion, trailing only the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It purchased Ulm-based startup Sowa Labs in November 2017 for a “seven-digit figure”, according to the official press release.

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Barclays

Barclays is planning to launch a new cryptocurrency trading desk focused on institutions and cryptocurrency hedge funds, according to The ICO Journal, citing “two sources with knowledge of the project”.

The bank has had some hard times since the 2008 financial crisis. It recently agreed to pay $2 billion to US authorities for its part in causing that crisis, just one of the many financial penalties levied upon the bank since. In addition to that it has seen several of its employees sanctioned for illegal practices, and was recently criticised for paying out £20 million in bonuses to its managers just after announcing losses of £1.9 billion in 2017.

Searching for a new direction, the bank recently took on San-Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase as a customer, marking the first time that a digital exchange has opened a bank account with a major British bank.