This morning, Bitcoin Magazine had the privilege of speaking with CEO and co-founder of itBit, Richmond Teo and also representatives from Liberty City Ventures. Today, itBit announced its official opening and global platform for the trading of Bitcoin with US dollars, Singapore dollars and Euros. itBit is a Singapore based exchange with the intent of reaching out globally to provide a platform for institutional investors to utilize Bitcoin in new ways and to take Bitcoin to the next level.
CEO and Co-Founder, Richmond Teo, created itBit to serve as a Bitcoin exchange that covers global equity standards. itBit will also aim to raise the overall liquidity of Bitcoin in the market. Richmond and his co-founder and CTO, Jason Melo, both have experience in financial services. itBit also just received 3.25 million in seed funding from Canaan Partners, RRE Ventures, Liberty City Ventures and notable angel investors including Jay W. Jordan II and Ben Davenport.
Additional exchange goals include helping minimize threats across exchanges and within each exchange, helping institutions hedge the risk, and setting the tone for more sophisticated exchanges. In particular, itBit is focused on compliance to help elevate Bitcoin as a currency. To date, itBit is compliant within its home country of Singapore and has a close relationship with the monetary authority of Singapore. In addition to working closely with MAS, Monetary Authority of Singapore, itBit has also partnered with Thomson Reuters to utilize their suspicious activity monitoring system. itBit aims at working within compliance standards that will mirror compliance more of a bank and or broker rather than an online merchant compliance system.
itBit sent out the following press release and announcement:
itBit Debuts Bitcoin Currency Exchange
Company Raises $3.25 million in VC Funding
Singapore – November 11, 2013 – Digital currency exchange itBit today has unveiled its global platform for the trading of Bitcoin with US dollars, Singapore dollars and Euros. itBit offers a new level of professionalism and security to Bitcoin trading. It can be accessed directly at www.itBit.com worldwide by institutional investors, commercial businesses and retail investors (retail investors must reside outside the United States*). The itBit exchange operates as a traditional currency exchange with a central limit order book. It also offers Bitcoin wallet capabilities, allowing traders to store and access their Bitcoin directly and conveniently on the itBit platform.
“Bitcoin is a global currency, which enables immediate transactions directly between two people, no matter where they are in the world. Fully realized, Bitcoin will fuel a truly global economy, and give the power and security of digital payments to the unbanked,” said itBit CEO and co-founder Richmond Teo. “We built itBit to be part of the underlying infrastructure that supports that greater global economy.”
itBit is proudly dedicated to the following principles:
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Reliability. itBit is built for scale. It can handle trading volume at many orders of magnitude higher than the combined total volume of Bitcoin traded globally today and for the foreseeable future. The trading and matching engine can successfully cross millions of trades per second while delivering peak performance. itBit employs NASDAQ exchange technology, and has customer service available 24/7 to serve global markets.
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Privacy and security. Multi-factor authentication, multiple layers of DDoS attack mitigation provided by Akamai Technologies, cold storage techniques and defense-in-depth security help ensure that all exchange activity and financial assets are secure.
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Deep market liquidity. itBit is the first Bitcoin exchange to offer advanced market making techniques and also operates on a maker-taker pricing model. These techniques enhance liquidity in Bitcoin trading, optimizing trade price for both buyers and sellers.
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Compliance. itBit takes a proactive approach to ensure its operations are always in full regulatory compliance with the laws of its home country and the home countries of its users. Utilizing Thomson Reuters for screening and continuous suspicious activity monitoring, and Jumio for identity verification, the company’s KYC/AML procedures significantly exceed current standards.
The company today also announced the completion of a $3.25 million round of venture capital fundraising, co-led by Canaan Partners and RRE Ventures. Additional investors include Liberty City Ventures and angel investors including Jay W. Jordan II and Ben Davenport. itBit plans to use the funding to support its global operations, expand its offerings and pursue further regulatory approvals. Including this round of funding, itBit has raised a total of $5.5 million in institutional capital.
“Bitcoin is one of the most promising payment innovation protocols that exists today. A reliable exchange is of critical importance to the Bitcoin ecosystem, and itBit has put together a compelling offering that is not only fully compliant but also one of the most elegant and easiest to use exchange platforms that currently operates in that ecosystem,” said Dan Ciporin, General Partner, Canaan Partners. “With its state-of-the-art trading capabilities, itBit introduces Bitcoin to a heightened level of sophistication, security and reliability.”
For more information, and to sign up as a user, please visit www.itBit.com.
*Trading at a retail level is currently not available for individuals who reside within the United States. Regulatory approvals are currently being pursued on a state-by-state basis.
About itBit
itBit offers an electronic global currency exchange for trading fiat currencies with digital currencies like Bitcoin. The platform is based on global exchange standards with state-of-the-art technology powering its matching engine, trade execution, security and privacy. The company is venture-backed by Canaan Partners, RRE Ventures, Liberty City Ventures and notable angel investors including Jay W. Jordan II and Ben Davenport. To learn more, visit www.itBit.com.
