Bitcoin’s Rise Sees Crypto-Billionaire Launch Financial Startup

The rise of Bitcoin has brought industry players, who had abandoned the cryptocurrency, back into the business. The reinterest generated by the cryptocurrency can be taken as a sign that Bitcoin could go back to its sky high price levels.

The co-founder of Bitmain Technologies Ltd., Wu Jihan, has brought together a group of individuals formerly employed by Bitmain to create a new cryptocurrency financial services startup named Matrixport. The startup has come at a time when Bitcoin is experiencing a strong resurgence and it is quite clear that the new initiative taken by Jihan is aimed at capitalizing on the cryptocurrency’s recent trends.

Wu Jihan has already stepped down from his position as co-CEO of Bitmain Technologies Ltd. although he still remains in a position to benefit when the company goes public. The crypto mining giant is currently seeking investment from a US company to the tune of between $300 million and $500 million. Share sales for the company will begin in the second half of this year.

The New Initiative

Matrixport offers its clients a one stop platform for the trading, lending and custody of their digital assets. Individuals who engage in cryptocurrency trading can be able to access all the services they need with regards to their digital assets under one platform. Matrixport spun off from Bitmain Technologies in January after the latter ran into some financial challenges. The financial services start up officially went live on Monday and its headquarters are in Singapore. Reports say that there are close to 100 staff members working at the headquarters, the majority of whom were employed by Bitmain Technologies Ltd.

A Bitmain shareholder who is also part of Matrixport, Ge, said that the companies operate in two different areas of business which makes them partners rather than competitors. A representative from Bitmain Technologies Ltd. did not offer a comment on the company or on Wu Jihan’s connections to it.

Industry Competitors

Competitors for Matrixport would be companies such as BitGo Inc. and Genesis Global Trading Inc. These companies have sought out to offer cryptocurrency traders and investors the financial services they need and it is this market that Matrixport is interested in. The rise of the price of Bitcoin has led to renewed interest in the cryptocurrency across the board and there are more traders and investors looking to buy Bitcoin. It is therefore not much of a surprise to see financial services startups such as Wu Jihan’s come forward to take part in the industry.

Matrixport aims to address the needs of Chinese crypto miners and traders in particular. The ban on crypto trading by Beijing has led to the company setting up outside of mainland China. The Chinese market is one of the biggest in the crypto industry and the services of a company such as Matrixport will surely be needed by the people in the region who engage in crypto business.