German fintech bitwala releases equity tokens in pursuit of building the world’s first blockchain bank with decentralised ownership.
Bitwala, the blockchain development, finance and cryptocurrency experts based in Berlin, will launch Europe’s first equity token as it strives to build a first of a kind blockchain bank with decentralised ownership.
Unlike other crypto financing projects, participants do not normally receive any transfer of equity in the company as part of the token sale, but instead receive what is known as utility tokens. Bitwala will be the first in Europe to offer tokens that represent equity in the underlying company, with participants able to take part in Bitwala’s Equity Token Generation (ETG) event taking place before the end of the year.
The company’s advisory board boasts both breadth and depth of expertise in banking, blockchain technology and entrepreneurship, members include CEO and cofounder of Lisk Max Kordek; former Merrill Lynch Investment banker, Ricardo Schaefer; HGTF Managing Director Dr. Alex von Frankenberg; strategic advisor Niels Dörje; and consumer marketing consulting expert Andreas Hoerr.
“Blockchain has the potential to fundamentally change how we exchange financial value in an increasingly global marketplace,” commented Dr. Ricardo Schaefer, an early Bitwala investor and former Merrill Lynch investment banker.
“Bitwala’s ambition to create a borderless banking solution that operates in harmony with current financial systems and regulations is truly game-changing. We are excited to join them on this journey, and look forward to celebrating imminent milestones with them,” continued Schaefer.
Bitwala CEO Jorg von Minckwitz commented, “We are proud of our achievements to date, and remain firmly focused on achieving our vision of creating Europe’s first true blockchain-enabled bank.”
“With a number of important milestones imminent, we are excited to take Bitwala to the next level, and make banking faster, cheaper and accessible to even more consumers and businesses,” he concluded.
Bitwala, founded in 2015, already has an award winning international money transfer service that allows money to be sent from 60 major cryptocurrencies into Euros, British Pounds and 20 other fiat currencies to over 150 countries worldwide.
It also offers a VISA powered debit card so users can access funds online and offline, as well as a bitcoin supporting API that allows white-labeled access to their products for business solutions.
For more information on the upcoming ETG event, please visit: https://vision.bitwala.com/
About Bitwala
Launched in 2015, Bitwala is Europe’s leading digital payments processor using blockchain technology. In 2016, it received funding from Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group and High Tech GruenderFonds – Germany government’s leading seed investment fund. The award winning service offers a simplified way of making international money transfers and bill payments with or without a bank account. It currently has more than 55000 business and private users in 120 countries around the world.