Change: Estonia’s commission-free Bitcoin trading platform has plans for Europe
Estonia has become a powerhouse for innovative trading platforms. We have recently covered Lightyear’s upcoming launch and now Change has raised funds to expand its commission-free crypto retail platform in Europe and Asia.
Cryptocurrency investing platform Change has raised $4.5M (€3.7M) from 50 private investors at a $214M (€175M) valuation via crowdfunding.
With this round, Change is now backed by over 7,000 private investors and raised more than $21M (€18M) in funding in total. Change will use the funding to grow the team, further develop its platform, and expand in European and Asian markets.
Investors are primarily composed of Change’s original crowdfunding members, who’ve continued to be involved in the project since 2017, as well as existing shareholders.
The retail trading platform follows the neobroker model: no fees on Bitcoin trades, low minimum deposit of €10, built as a user-friendly interface geared towards beginners. Change’s goal is to become the most used, simplest investment app in the EU.
Founded in 2016, the crypto trading platform is currently used by 85,000 verified customers who have traded more than $1 billion in volume over the past five years.
Kristjan Kangro, Founder and CEO of Change, said: “We started with a mission to empower everyone everywhere to benefit from investing – be it with cryptos or more traditional trading instruments. Not only did this mean creating a platform that was simple to use, but it also meant being independently funded and driven by our community.
“To see so many of our original investors from back in 2017 continuing to believe in and support us is incredibly inspiring. Together we’ve achieved tremendous growth over the past year especially, and our ambitious expansion plans aren’t showing any signs of slowing down.”
The community-driven investing platform is headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, is led by co-founders Kristjan Kangro (CEO) and Gustav Liblik (CPO).
High-profile backers include Roger Cook, former Global CEO of DHL and Hans van der Noordaa, former CEO of the Retail Division of ING Bank and Chairman of Deloitte.
Also from Estonia is Lightyear, the TransferWise of trading apps which will be launching in Q3 2021. Backed by Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus and Teleport co-founder Sten Tamkivi, Lightyear claims to be Europe’s first truly commission-free investment platform.
The MVP product will be rolled out with unlimited access to over 1,500 global stocks and ETFs, with no trading fees, no account fees, and no FX fees up to £3000 per month. After customers exceed that, there will be a 0.35% FX fee.
