BTCJam

BTCjam
Private
Industry Personal Finance, Software
Founded 2012
Founder Celso Pitta
Defunct 2017
Headquarters 211 Sutter St.
San Francisco, United States
Products Peer-to-Peer Lending
Number of employees
 1-5
Website https://btcjam.com/

From 2012 to 2017 BTCjam was a peer-to-peer lending (aka "P2P lending") service where individuals could borrow or lend using bitcoin. The company claimed it intended to let users in countries that lack a local credit score system to receive loans. Its claimed mission was to make credit affordable and accessible everywhere. According to one source, BTCJam was "the first P2P lending platform to cross national borders successfully.[1]

BTCjam was part of the 500 Startups accelerator program and received investments from Ribbit Capital, Foundation Capital, Pantera Capital, and other venture capital firms. It has facilitated bitcoin loans for more than US$14,000,000 in over 120 countries.[2]

BTCJam closed on 2017, claiming regulatory difficulties operating out of various jurisdictions.

History

BTCjam was founded in late 2012. During its first year of operation, the average loan size was in the US$400 to US$600 range.[1]

2013

In October 2013, BTCjam was accepted into the 500 Startups accelerator program[3] and secured seed financing from Ribbit Capital, 500 Startups, FundersClub and Bitcoin Investment Trust.

2014

In February 2014 BTCjam moved from Mountain View to San Francisco, California, and started expanding the company. First employee Alexis Aiono started at this time and helped build the company. Followed by Gustavo Guida Reis, a Brazilian entrepreneur and former shareholder of the Brazilian e-commerce property Buscapé, joined the company in May as shareholder and Chief Product Officer.

By the end of 2014 BTCjam had facilitated bitcoin loans in excess of US$10 million with more than 100,000 users in over 120 countries.

2015

In January 2015 BTCjam secured their Series A fundraising round, led by Foundation Capital (investors in Netflix, Uber and Lending Club), Ribbit Capital, 500 Startups, FundersClub, Bitcoin Investment Trust and Pantera Capital.

Patrick Murck, executive director of the Bitcoin Foundation, joined the board of advisors of BTCJam.[4]

2016

By 2016, the company had serviced more than 16,000 loans across 121 countries, many in areas typically considered to be unbanked,[1] and had been described as "by far the largest microloan/microfinance site powered by Bitcoin.[5]

In March 2016, BTCjam stopped accepting customers from the United States for regulatory reasons.

2017

In 2017 the company shut down entirely and ceased operations.[6]

Main Investors

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tasca, Paolo; Aste, Tomaso; Pelizzon, Loriana; Perony, Nicolas (September 1, 2016). Banking Beyond Banks and Money: A Guide to Banking Services in the Twenty-First Century. Springer. pp. 145–. ISBN 978-3-319-42448-4.
  2. ↑ "BTCJam - Highlights". BTCjam.
  3. ↑ "500 Startups - BTCjam". 500 Startups. 500 Startups.
  4. ↑ Bello Perez, Yessi. "Bitcoin Foundation's Patrick Murck to Advise BTCJam" (February 17, 2015). CoinDesk. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  5. ↑ DeMartino, Ian (August 16, 2016). The Bitcoin Guidebook: How to Obtain, Invest, and Spend the World's First Decentralized Cryptocurrency. Skyhorse Publishing Company, Incorporated. pp. 154–. ISBN 978-1-5107-0148-9.
  6. ↑ BTCJam is closing
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