Bit Trade, Austrailia’s longest standing bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange today announced it will open up for investment in their business by launching an equity crowdfunding campaign on Equitise.

For as little as $475, Aussie investors can now get a foothold in Bit Trade, which has been operating since 2013. Bit Trade is raising $3 million to fund its strategic growth and international expansion via Equitise.

“At Bit Trade, we’re excited by the opportunity to help launch Australia’s premier gateway for the future of investment through the new asset class of smart securities,” Bit Trade managing director and co-founder Jonathon Miller said.

Equitise was one of the first equity crowdfunding platforms in Australia last year to receive regulatory licensing approval from ASIC as part of the regulator’s new framework for giving retail investors a capital foothold in exciting Australian companies and innovative small businesses.

The opportunity is ripe for an emerging class of do-it-yourself investors in Australia. Figures from the 2017 Australian Investor Study found that over the past 12 months, 65 percent of Australian investors used the online trading platform and 60 percent of Australians hold investments outside their institutional super fund, with these investments increasingly being on-exchange investments as Australians look for alternative asset classes to invest in.

Miller said there was no better indicator of the rising appeal of digital currencies as an alternative asset class for Australian investors particularly as a total of $5.9 billion in digital currencies was traded by Australians in 2017.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re crypto curious or crypto serious, our platform’s accessible to both individuals and institutions and we’re really excited to be able to throw down the gauntlet and be the first Aussie digital exchange to open up our doors to everyday investors.”

Equitise co-founder Jonny Wilkinson underlined the opportunity for Aussie investors to take part in this campaign, saying Bit Trade and Equitise are well placed to capitalize on the changing regulations around equity crowdfunding in Australia over a year into the new regime.

“Interest in bitcoin hasn’t died down over the years and Equitise is giving investors the chance to gain a foothold in exciting or emerging industries like the world of cryptocurrencies,” Wilkinson said.

“This equity crowdfunding campaign is the first time in Australia that everyday investors can help shape the future of wealth by backing an innovative company like Bit Trade who are at the forefront of the smart securities market.”

Bit Trade also has an in-house innovation lab and blockchain consultancy which advises and develops software for businesses using blockchain and distributed consensus systems.

Miller said that funds raised from the equity crowdfunding campaign will be used to continue to invest in the Bit Trade team and platform before scaling to other international markets.

He said Bit Trade’s long-term strategy will be to diversify its revenue base, scale its platform and gain valuable customer insights into the daily trading habits of its users, in particular enterprise and institutions.

“We’re passionate about building the next generation of wealth and we see that future being in cryptocurrencies. As a first mover, Bit Trade is also on the verge of announcing an exciting partnership with an innovative Australian education provider to help support early stage entrepreneurs and encourage wider spread adoption,” said Miller.

Key Stats

About 83 percent of all digital currency traders in Australia are male and 71 percent are under the age of 40.

The proportion of younger Australians investing, 18-to-24-year-olds, has doubled from 10 percent to 20 percent over the past five years.

Bit Trade launched a new version of its platform in May this year and saw total registrations ramp up to over 50,000 on the platform since inception.

Equitise has already helped raise over $4 million in retail equity crowdfunding for 2018.

Nearly 2000 investors have taken part in raises on Equitise with an average investment of $2000 and median investment of $750.

In terms of demographics, the age bracket 35-44 was the highest in terms of total amount invested on Equitise in 2018.

Age brackets 25-34 and 35-44 have invested more frequently during equity crowdfunds in 2018.

Like any investment, Crowd-Sourced Funding (CSF) is risky. Investors may lose their money and the business may not achieve its objectives. You should consider the CSF offer document and the general CSF risk warning contained in the offer document in deciding whether to apply under the offer.