CoinJar

Last updated

CoinJar
Logo Logo of CoinJar.png
Logo
Type Cryptocurrency Exchange
LocationMelbourne, Australia
FoundedMay 2013;11 years ago (2013-05)
Key people
  • Asher Tan
  • Ryan Zhou
Currency Cryptocurrencies: [1] BTC, DOGE, ETH, ETC, LTC, ALGO, AVAX, DOT, ADA, XMR, SOL, XTZ
Fiat currencies: USD, GBP, AUD, EUR
Website www.coinjar.com

CoinJar is a centralised digital currency exchange with the main function to facilitate the trading of cryptocurrencies by its users and allow to convert these assets into cash. It is one of the earliest cryptocurrency exchanges to launch in Australia. [2]

Contents

Established in 2013 in Melbourne, Australia, CoinJar expanded its operations to London, England in 2014.

History

CoinJar was co-founded by Asher Tan and Ryan Zhou in May 2013. [3] The company originated in Melbourne, Australia, through a startup accelerator program and secured initial funding from Blackbird Ventures along with contributions from angel investors. [4]

The company is one of the first Australian cryptocurrency exchanges, starting with services that allowed the purchase and sale of Bitcoin, predominantly servicing an Australian user base. [2] [5]

In its early years, CoinJar raised a seed round of A$500,000, with Blackbird Ventures contributing $228,000, which also supported the launch of CoinJar's Bitcoin wallet, initially registering 10,000 users in Australia. [3] [6] CoinJar raised from US-based investors Digital Currency Group in 2017.

Regulation and Compliance

In 2014, CoinJar expanded its business to the United Kingdom. [7] [8]

At an Australian Parliamentary Hearing Committee, CoinJar, noted that the ATO's GST ruling had rendered it 'uncompetitive against non-Australian rivals'. [9] In 2016, the Australian federal government removed the 'double tax' placed on bitcoin transactions. [10] Despite the regulatory challenges in Australia, CoinJar and other cryptocurrency exchanges in the country expressed a preference for regulatory clarity and licensing regime. [11]

In April 2021, CoinJar was cited among examples of Australian fintechs that have brought their technologies to the UK in Australian Senate Select Committee report on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre. [12] The company is registered with regulatory authorities including the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC). [13] In October 2021, subsidiary CoinJar UK Limited was registered by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a Cryptoasset Exchange Provider and Custodian Wallet Provider. [14] [15]

As of December 2022, the company had approximately half a million users. [16]

Products

In August 2018, CoinJar launched The CoinJar Digital Currency Fund, a tracker fund that mirrors cryptocurrency values with currency exposure is hedged to Australian dollars. The fund was offered in two classes, Bitcoin only and a mixed fund of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin. [17]

In 2021, CoinJar partnered with Mastercard to issue cryptocurrency-linked payment cards in the Asia Pacific region. [18] In 2022, this initiative included the CoinJar Card, the first crypto-to-GBP credit card in the UK, enabling users to convert cryptocurrencies into fiat currencies instantaneously. [11]

The platform supports deposits in both fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies. CoinJar facilitates trading by matching buy and sell orders on its platform and enables users to convert cryptocurrencies into fiat currencies for withdrawal. [13]

Business Model

CoinJar generates revenue primarily through a transaction fee on the exchange of Bitcoin into standard currencies and vice versa. [7] It offers various services including instant transfers of Bitcoin between individuals, CoinJar Bundles for mixed cryptocurrency portfolios, and a range of trading options over 58 cryptocurrencies. [7] [19] [20]

Sports Affiliations

CoinJar was among the first cryptocurrency companies in Australia to sponsor a sports team, namely the Melbourne Demons of the Australian Football League (AFL) in May 2021. [21] The company also secured a partnership with Brentford FC in the UK, expanding its brand presence through sports affiliations. [22]

Related Research Articles

A cryptocurrency exchange, or a digital currency exchange (DCE), is a business that allows customers to trade cryptocurrencies or digital currencies for other assets, such as conventional fiat money or other digital currencies. Exchanges may accept credit card payments, wire transfers or other forms of payment in exchange for digital currencies or cryptocurrencies. A cryptocurrency exchange can be a market maker that typically takes the bid–ask spreads as a transaction commission for its service or, as a matching platform, simply charges fees.

Neteller is a global payments platform and digital wallet used to transfer money to and from merchants, such as forex trading brokers, social networks, and gambling websites. Users in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom can add a Net+ Mastercard to their account to pay with their balance in stores or withdraw it as cash from ATMs. Regardless of their location, users can transfer their balance to their own bank accounts or cards if they need to withdraw the funds from their account.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryptocurrency</span> Digital currency not reliant on a central authority

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Litecoin is a decentralized peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and open-source software project released under the MIT/X11 license. Inspired by Bitcoin, Litecoin was among the earliest altcoins, starting in October 2011. In technical details, the Litecoin main chain shares a slightly modified Bitcoin codebase. The practical effects of those codebase differences are lower transaction fees, faster transaction confirmations, and faster mining difficulty retargeting. Due to its underlying similarities to Bitcoin, Litecoin has historically been referred to as the "silver to Bitcoin's gold." In 2022, Litecoin added optional privacy features via soft fork through the MWEB upgrade.

Coinbase Global, Inc., branded Coinbase, is an American publicly traded company that operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform. Coinbase is a distributed company; all employees operate via remote work. It is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States in terms of trading volume. The company was founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam. In May 2020, Coinbase announced it would shut its San Francisco, California, headquarters and change operations to remote-first, part of a wave of several major tech companies closing headquarters in San Francisco in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Kraken is a United States–based cryptocurrency exchange, founded in 2011. It was one of the first bitcoin exchanges to be listed on Bloomberg Terminal and was valued at US$3 billion in January 2024. The company has been the subject of several regulatory investigations since 2018, and has agreed to cumulative fines of over $30 million.

Coincheck is a Japanese bitcoin wallet and exchange service headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, founded by Koichiro Wada and Yusuke Otsuka. It operates exchanges between bitcoin, ether and fiat currencies in Japan, and bitcoin transactions and storage in some countries.

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Binance Holdings Ltd., branded Binance, is a global company that operates the largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies. Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, a developer who had previously created high-frequency trading software. Binance was initially based in China, then moved to Japan shortly before the Chinese government restricted cryptocurrency companies. Binance subsequently left Japan for Malta and currently has no official company headquarters.

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OKX is a global cryptocurrency spot and derivatives exchange and the second biggest crypto exchange by trading volume, serving over 50 million people globally. It was founded by Star Xu in 2017, who is also the CEO as of 2023. The President is Hong Fang and the CMO is Haider Rafique. OKX is owned by OK Group, which also owns the crypto exchange Okcoin. As of August 2024, OKX is Top 3 Spot Cryptocurrency exchange in the world according to Coinmarketcap with a Spot Exchange Score of 7.8.

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References

  1. ↑ "Cryptocurrencies available on CoinJar". CoinJar Support. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  2. 1 2 Powell, Dominic (Jul 24, 2022). "Australia's First Crypto Exchange is not a Typical Success Story". Sydney Morning Herald.
  3. 1 2 Swan, David (May 1, 2023). "Bitcoin is Back: Melbourne Crypto Exchange CoinJar is Expanding to the US, CEO Asher Tan Says". The Australian Business Review.
  4. ↑ Ong, Thuy (Feb 18, 2015). "Tech Start-ups May Help Plug Mining Hole". ABC News Australia.
  5. ↑ Adhikari, Supratim (July 9, 2018). "CoinJar Adds Portfolio Play to its Collection". The Australian Business Review.
  6. ↑ Lee, Terence (Dec 1, 2013). "Australia's CoinJar Gets $455,000 to Build Bitcoin Wallet and Exchange". Yahoo! Finance.
  7. 1 2 3 Drummond, Shaun (Feb 10, 2015). "CoinJar to Reveal Bitcoin Volatility Salve". Australian Financial Review.
  8. ↑ Wilson, David (Dec 12, 2014). "Bitcoin Can Help Travellers Cut Costs of Foreign Exchange". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  9. ↑ "Tax Treatment of Digital Currencies". Parliament of Australia.
  10. ↑ Barbaschow, Asha (Mar 20, 2016). "Australian Government to Scrap Bitcoin 'Double Tax'". ZDNet.
  11. 1 2 Turner, Adam (Jun 17, 2021). "Cryptocurrencies Chasing a Licence to Thrill". The Australian Financial Review.
  12. ↑ "Select Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre" (PDF). ADC Forum. The Australian Senate.
  13. 1 2 Smith, Paul (Dec 3, 2019). "Westpac Mess Highlights Broader Tech Struggle". The Australian Financial Review.
  14. ↑ "Registered Cryptoasset Firms". Financial Conduct Authority.
  15. ↑ "Coinjar Secures Financial Conduct Authority Registration - One Of The First Uk Exchanges To Be Registered As A Cryptoasset Company With The FCA". MondoVisione. Sep 29, 2021.
  16. ↑ Thomsen, Symon (Dec 1, 2022). "CoinJar sheds jobs in wake of FTX collapse". Startup Daily.
  17. ↑ Collett, John (Aug 7, 2018). "A trust-me proposition': fund to track cryptocurrencies best avoided". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  18. ↑ Lee, Zinnia (Nov 9, 2021). "Mastercard Teams Up With Three Asian Crypto Companies to Launch Crypto Payment Cards". Forbes.
  19. ↑ "CoinJar Introduces 'CoinJar Bundles' Designed to Simplify Investing in Cryptocurrencies". CryptoGlobe. Sep 23, 2020.
  20. ↑ Page, James (Jul 5, 2024). "CoinJar Review". Crypto Head.
  21. ↑ Coghlan, Jesse (Sep 19, 2022). "Sports Sponsorship is Helping Legitimize Crypto in Australia - CoinJar Exec". CoinTelegraph.
  22. ↑ Orme-Claye, Ted (Aug 13, 2021). "Brentford FC Links With CoinJar Ahead of Top-Flight Return". Insider-Sport.
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