Singapore’s BitX lands in London to ride the global bitcoin wave. Oh, and it’s now Luno

Photo credit: Giphy.

Singapore-based bitcoin startup BitX announced today it’s setting up an office in London to build up its presence in Europe’s fintech world.

And it will be doing so under a new name – the startup will henceforth be known as Luno. That includes a new website as well as updated iOS and Android apps.

It’s possible Luno, née BitX, read this blog post lamenting how most bitcoin startup names suck, but the company thinks of it as indicative of where it’s aiming. “Luno” means “moon” in the international Esperanto language and the recently skyrocketing price of bitcoin certainly reflects that sentiment.

Luno will target business clients with its new product.

As part of its expansion in London, Luno will join the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s regulatory sandbox. In this walled off environment meant to test new financial services and products, Luno will try out its Falcon product – a way to help remittance businesses move British pounds to other currencies using bitcoin and other digital currencies as a clearing and settlement mechanism. Luno will target business clients with this offering.

The startup is also launching a beta product that allows users to buy bitcoin using their credit card. The service is initially available in Canada, India, and most European countries. Users can store and spend the card-bought digital currency but cannot sell it at the moment.

Finally, Luno will place more emphasis on providing more education about bitcoin with a new learning portal that gives a crash course on the cryptocurrency.

The startup hopes to position itself as a well-rounded provider of bitcoin-related services, expanding beyond its central ewallet function.

“We believe that decentralized digital currencies like bitcoin will fundamentally change how the world views and uses money: cheaper, faster and safer transactions; more privacy and financial freedom; a significantly better user experience; and ultimately, more equality by giving everyone in the world access to the same financial system,” says Luno CEO Marcus Swanepoel, a passionate believer in bitcoin.

The startup raised an undisclosed amount from Venturra Capital in December 2015. It raised its series A round, worth US$4 million, in July of the same year. The round was led by South African media conglomerate Naspers and joined by investors like the Digital Currency Group.