German online bank uses Bitcoins to transfer loans

[Hydrogen]

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Radoslav Albrecht has founded an online bank that allows clients to transfer loans anywhere in the world using Bitcoin.

Bitbond uses cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to bypass the Swift international transfer system to lend money across the globe rapidly and at low cost.

“Traditional money transfers are relatively costly due to currency exchange fees, and can take up to a few days,” Albrecht told Reuters TV in his office in Berlin’s fashionable neighborhood Prenzlauer Berg. “With Bitbond, payments work independently of where customers are. Via internet it is very, very quick and the fees are low.”

Clients hold the loans in digital tokens like Bitcoin only for seconds or minutes until they are exchanged back into the currency of the country where they wish to receive the funds, avoiding the crypto currencies fluctuating exchange rates.

Bitcoin has been used as collateral for loans, but never as a way of transferring credit in currency internationally.

Albrecht’s service has been growing in popularity among clients since he launched the company in 2013. His office employs 24 people from 12 countries who manage loans for 100 clients amounting to around $1 million each month.

Most clients are small business owners or freelance workers, Albrecht says. Loans are relatively small and don’t exceed 50,000 dollars. In 2016, Bitbond was officially licensed as a bank and has gained many investors since.

Adoption of Bitcoin has been rapid in Germany. It trails only the U.S., according to Bitnodes, which tracks the location of all the Bitcoin nodes that transmit data about new transactions.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-bitcoin/german-online-bank-uses-bitcoins-to-transfer-loans-idUSKBN1ID07Y

One area bitcoin hasn't enjoyed much utilization is in loan markets. Many bitcoin loan based start ups had difficulties with lack of support in terms of collateral, background checks, creditchex and similar systems utilized by banks to streamline the loan process and make them more reliable. Looks like this small german bank has stepped in to fill the vacuum and it appears to be enjoying success.

Hopefully this will be an indication of future progress with crypto based loans and we'll see other start ups embrace this trend by offering greater support for this. It is possible their loan process carries a lot of scrutiny and it may be doubtful that crypto based loans will ever rival fiat loans in terms of convenience, rapid deployment or ease of use. As crypto loans become more prevalent we could see better frameworks and solutions to issues which have plagued the industry in the past and so perhaps this is a sign progress will be made.

[bitcoin2048]

This is awesome, if the major countries will go on for the cryptocurrencies, I think that smaller countries will follow their examples fast!

[cryptomoon1004]

This is a good news for cryptos ; and many banks around the world will follow soon.

Banks and Bitcoin will go hand in hand in future I feel

[yoseph]

This is awesome, if the major countries will go on for the cryptocurrencies, I think that smaller countries will follow their examples fast!

That's indeed great news, Germany has been pro Bitcoins ever since the cryptocurrency emerged and now they are bringing in new services that will make the cryptos expand even more.

[sinta23]

This is awesome, if the major countries will go on for the cryptocurrencies, I think that smaller countries will follow their examples fast!

That's indeed great news, Germany has been pro Bitcoins ever since the cryptocurrency emerged and now they are bringing in new services that will make the cryptos expand even more.

it's amazing, because a big country like Germany uses the crypto for transactional tools, we should support it, and hopefully in other countries it has the resolve as did Germany to move forward and grow.

[Koloulinger]

This is a good news for cryptos ; and many banks around the world will follow soon.

Banks and Bitcoin will go hand in hand in future I feel

because in german bitcoin is already regulate
if country not regulate bitcoin can big problem use bitcoin

[BitHodler]

if country not regulate bitcoin can big problem use bitcoin

No regulations means Bitcoin users enjoy more freedom, which is always good, so it's definitely not a problem at all. I would say that more regulations are the main problem rather than there not being any regulations.

Germany has proven to be quite friendly towards crypto developments, which is why its regulations don't form that much of an obstacle. China's regulations however show the different (negative) side of them.

Other than that, these lending platforms eventually all seem to be doomed. I can't name up one lending platform that hasn't been hijacked by scammers, so I hope that Bitbond can be an exception here, but I'm not optimistic.

[gaxfrwpy]

This is the best news I've seen today. If a big country like Germany legitimize the special currency, it will play an exemplary role in the region and even in Europe as a whole. It is believed that banks in many European countries will soon be promoted, which is very beneficial to the development of the encrypted community.

[patarfweefwee]

That is a good news. The more people using crypto currencies for their daily lives, the more people will demand for more crypto currency. The higher the demand the higher the price. This is a lesson for all of us, more and more people are being aware of crypto currencies now so we should hold on to our coins all the more.

[jseverson]

I'm more surprised Bitbond was licensed as a bank lol. All the while I was reading the article, I was asking myself "How is this a bank?" But yeah, I suppose there are many different kinds with differing requirements depending on where you are.

Either way, I'm not surprised at all. Convenient cross-border transfers has always been one of Bitcoin's strongest use-cases, so it was only a matter of time until someone started something like this. Bitbond has already proven that it works, so I'd like to think it's also only a matter of time before the rest of the world follows. I hope they grow bigger and more successful.

[1Referee]

Other than that, these lending platforms eventually all seem to be doomed. I can't name up one lending platform that hasn't been hijacked by scammers, so I hope that Bitbond can be an exception here, but I'm not optimistic.

The difference in this case, which is a very important one, is that this isn't just one of the many services we have had in the same segment, but a professional financial service with all proper registrations and licenses. It's obviously not a guarantee that it won't become a scam circus later on, but due to regulatory pressure BitBond has to cut through all that nonsense and severely punish abusers.

What I like about this is that we have a whole ecosystem popping up working around Bitcoin, and that's exactly the utility value we want Bitcoin to have. Remember, this is just the beginning of everything, so there is plenty of more that we will be seeing in the forthcoming years. Bitcoin's network is by far the strongest and most secure network allowing these transactions to be conducted in the best possible way. Everything that contributes to Bitcoin's ecosystem and utility is more than welcome.

[vladimir273]

Great news, now in order to invest in bitcoin on the exchange, it is enough to take a Bank loan. And if the price falls, you can tell the Bank that there was a force majeure.

[kissme09]

It is good news, and it is proving that many banks are accepting Bitcoin around the world and used for payment and exchange transactions. You can imagine it being bought and sold continuously thanks to the big banks, which will help Bitcoin price go up very fast.

[stompix]

I'm more surprised Bitbond was licensed as a bank lol. All the while I was reading the article, I was asking myself "How is this a bank?" But yeah, I suppose there are many different kinds with differing requirements depending on where you are.

Either way, I'm not surprised at all. Convenient cross-border transfers has always been one of Bitcoin's strongest use-cases, so it was only a matter of time until someone started something like this. Bitbond has already proven that it works, so I'd like to think it's also only a matter of time before the rest of the world follows. I hope they grow bigger and more successful.

I'm more amazed they are still around, they are no better than BTCJAM, and those are were in a league of their own. The threads about them in the market place have nothing encouraging in them, even their own topic.

If I remember correctly one of the biggest default was around 10 000$, might be wrong because of the BTC/$ , and the guy was just trolling everybody showing that all the papers were fake..

[magneto]

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Radoslav Albrecht has founded an online bank that allows clients to transfer loans anywhere in the world using Bitcoin.

Bitbond uses cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to bypass the Swift international transfer system to lend money across the globe rapidly and at low cost.

“Traditional money transfers are relatively costly due to currency exchange fees, and can take up to a few days,” Albrecht told Reuters TV in his office in Berlin’s fashionable neighborhood Prenzlauer Berg. “With Bitbond, payments work independently of where customers are. Via internet it is very, very quick and the fees are low.”

Clients hold the loans in digital tokens like Bitcoin only for seconds or minutes until they are exchanged back into the currency of the country where they wish to receive the funds, avoiding the crypto currencies fluctuating exchange rates.

Bitcoin has been used as collateral for loans, but never as a way of transferring credit in currency internationally.

Albrecht’s service has been growing in popularity among clients since he launched the company in 2013. His office employs 24 people from 12 countries who manage loans for 100 clients amounting to around $1 million each month.

Most clients are small business owners or freelance workers, Albrecht says. Loans are relatively small and don’t exceed 50,000 dollars. In 2016, Bitbond was officially licensed as a bank and has gained many investors since.

Adoption of Bitcoin has been rapid in Germany. It trails only the U.S., according to Bitnodes, which tracks the location of all the Bitcoin nodes that transmit data about new transactions.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-bitcoin/german-online-bank-uses-bitcoins-to-transfer-loans-idUSKBN1ID07Y

One area bitcoin hasn't enjoyed much utilization is in loan markets. Many bitcoin loan based start ups had difficulties with lack of support in terms of collateral, background checks, creditchex and similar systems utilized by banks to streamline the loan process and make them more reliable. Looks like this small german bank has stepped in to fill the vacuum and it appears to be enjoying success.

Hopefully this will be an indication of future progress with crypto based loans and we'll see other start ups embrace this trend by offering greater support for this. It is possible their loan process carries a lot of scrutiny and it may be doubtful that crypto based loans will ever rival fiat loans in terms of convenience, rapid deployment or ease of use. As crypto loans become more prevalent we could see better frameworks and solutions to issues which have plagued the industry in the past and so perhaps this is a sign progress will be made.

I think that bitcoin loans make sense if it's cross border. If it's domestic, then it's more likely that fiat loans will still be used as long as the fiat banking system is still in existence, because it's just easier to sort out collateral, and the agreements f2f right now.

But the benefits of using bitcoin in funding international loans are obvious.

People with their economy in a state of collapse can get a loan this way from an online bank, using bitcoin as currency, if they are not able to get what they want from their banks. Plus, there is minimal fees and spreads compared foreign currency exchange, and settles instantly. The opportunities are really for the new companies to dig out right now.

[pitiflin]

How are they processing the collateral? In  terms of fiat or bitcoin? I am not sure if bitcoin is the right crypto for collateral. There are a few stable cryptos which would be helpful for collateral,as their volatility won't affect anything (I am not talking about tether,chill). But nevertheless,this is great. Colleges are accepting bitcoin,hotels are and now banks. Only thing,not everyone is rich enough or is in the min to use their bitcoin for these purposes,they see bitcoin as an asset  ( a fictitious intangible non-current asset) and not as a currency.

[Blockfolioz]

German being one among the top player in the world in terms of technology making use of bitcoin within the bank transactions will truly attract more people towards bitcoin. Another thing this will be kept as a reference, and more banking network might adopt bitcoin into their business.

[almersyn]

It is very feasible if borrowing in the field of cryptocurrency is facilitated by the Government. Because it also supports the country's economy and people's welfare in the country

[jamids]

The reason why some banks are looking at using blockchain technology because of the transfer fee and faster transaction. It is good that the German bank is using bitcoin as it utilized it as a currency instead of an asset. I hope that other banks would consider this option as this would benefit many people and companies. There is no problem with the fluctuation of price as they immediately convert it to its fiat value. However, I would assume that the banks would plan to benefit from the cryptocurrencies by creating their own so that they can still control its flow.

[21millionsbtc]

The German bank is seeing a vision where most of the banks are still in death lock towards bitcoin the future of money transfer through bitcoin and blockchain so after Japan now Germany is on forefront