BTC China, the oldest Bitcoin exchange in China, raised USD5 million in a Series A funding round from its institutional investors. Lightspeed China Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners provided the investment for BTC in the investment round. Prior to the initial investment from its institutional investors, BTC had been a self-sustaining business thanks to its three co-founders Xiaoyu Huang, Bobby Lee and Linke Yang.
Founded in June of 2011, BTC grew into the largest Bitcoin exchange in the world in terms of trading volume according to Bitcoinity.org. BTC saw a surge in new investors incited by the idea of a decentralized digital currency, said TechCrunch in its report.
Bitcoin's value in the BTC exchange and Mt.Gox exchange of Japan is at north of USD500. Mt.Gox was the largest Bitcoin exchange prior to BTC dethroning the former. The trading value of Bitcoin on the Bitstamp exchange in Europe is just below USD500.
BTC said proceeds from its Series A investment round will go towards the startups general operations. However, the startup indicated an expansion plan was on the horizon.
BTC Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Bobby Lee said, "We will continue to build the most reliable and secure Bitcoin trading platform for the China market, to offer great customer service, and to have a global impact on Bitcoins. This investment is a huge endorsement to our team at BTC China, and will allow us to keep innovating."
When asked about the recent spike in trading activity on BTC, Lee believed that the Chinese are treating Bitcoin as an investment asset.
"China has been a nation of savers. Even though Bitcoin is new to the scene, we think it is a viable digital asset, so people have realized that and may be investing in it as any other asset class: stocks, bonds, gold, commodities, real estate, etc," Lee said.
Lee also pointed out that short programs on Bitcoin and the acceptance of Bitcoin as payment currency by an increasing number of Internet companies in China might have also instigated the trade activity spike.
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