CoinJar to put brakes on Bitcoin volatility

CoinJar's Hedged Accounts in action. Source: Supplied

Australian Bitcoin start-up CoinJar has taken on one of Bitcoin’s chief criticisms, allowing consumers and businesses to bypass the cryptocurrency’s volatility and peg its price against a currency of their choice.

Hedged Accounts was unveiled on stage at Europe’s biggest financial technlogy conference Finovate, and means that for example if a user holds $400 worth of Bitcoin in Australian dollars, they can access $400 worth of Bitcoins in future.

Bitcoin itself has seen wild volatility in recent months, crashing from a value of over $1000 per Bitcoin to under $300 this month.

CoinJar said there is no additional charge and no time limit on its Hedged Accounts functionality, and that Bitcoin users can change or unhedge that value at any time.

In practical terms, CoinJar’s Hedged Accounts mean the value of a user’s bitcoin remains stable.



CoinJar chief executive Asher Tan said Hedged Accounts would benefit people who want to start out with Bitcoin for practical purposes, but don't want to manage it actively or worry about fluctuating prices.



"While some users enjoy the speculative aspects of Bitcoin, there are others who would like to hold Bitcoin without worrying too much about the volatility. Hedged Accounts makes Bitcoin a more stable currency, and more useful to more people,” Mr Tan said from London.

CoinJar made the leap to the UK late last year, with Mr Tan describing the UK as a more welcoming environment for Bitcoin than Austrlaia.

The start-up officially reincorporated as a UK company, CoinJar UK Ltd, and has taken up residence at Europe’s largest financial technology accelerator, Level 39 at Canary Wharf in London.

"They [the UK] have a very sensible approach to the regulation of new technologies like Bitcoin," Mr Tan said in an interview.

"There's an understanding bitcoin could be really big, so people in all levels of government are trying to formulate policy and work out how they can encourage businesses to situate themselves in the UK.

"I don't think FinTech companies can be globally competitive just remaining in Australia. There's a culmination of regulation and a small user base, and all those sorts of things,"

Hedged Accounts are available for CoinJar users globally from today; new users can sign up for a standard CoinJar account and add a Hedged Account at CoinJar's website.

Originally published as CoinJar to put brakes on Bitcoin volatility