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BTCjam

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki


BTCjam
Private
ISIN🆔
IndustryPersonal Finance, Software
Founded 📆2012
Founder 👔Celso Pitta
Headquarters 🏙️,
211 Sutter St.
San Francisco
,
United States
Area served 🗺️
Products 📟 Peer-to-Peer Lending
Members
Number of employees
1-5
🌐 Websitehttps://btcjam.com/
📇 Address
📞 telephone

BTCjam was a peer-to-peer lending (aka "P2P lending") service where people from around the world connect to borrow and lend using bitcoin, also known as "BTC". It was intended to let users in countries that lack a local credit score system to receive loans, based on an in-house credit-scoring algorithm. Its 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 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 worldwide.[2]

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

History[edit]

BTCjam was founded in late 2012 in order to help people have access to affordable credit. During its first year of operation, the average loan size was in the US$400 to US$600 range.[1] In some developing countries[3] like Brazil, interest rates for personal loans can reach over 200% per year.[4] Borrowers are unfortunately subject to aggressive predatory lending practices making credit difficult when not possible to be obtained.

2013[edit]

In October 2013, BTCjam was accepted into the 500 Startups accelerator program[5] and secured seed financing from Ribbit Capital, 500 Startups, FundersClub and Bitcoin Investment Trust.

2014[edit]

In February 2014 BTCjam moved from Mountain View to San Francisco, California, and started expanding the company largely. 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 worldwide.

2015[edit]

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. In May 2015, BTCjam launched new automatic investing tool.[6]

Patrick Murck, executive director of the Bitcoin Foundation, has joined the board of advisors of BTCJam.[7]

2016[edit]

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."[8] In March 2016, BTCjam stopped customers from the United States from creating an account on the site. The CEO of the firm cited regulatory issues and uncertainty in the United States as the reason for the restriction.[9]

2017[edit]

In 2017 the company disclosed that it would be shutting down entirely and ceasing operations.[10]

Board of directors[edit]

  • Celso Pitta, CEO/CTO
  • Gustavo Guida Reis, CPO
  • Charles Moldow, Advisor
  • Micky Malka, Advisor

Main Investors[edit]

Recognition / Awards[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Porter, Richard D.; Rousse, Wade (2016). "Reinventing Money and Lending for the Digital Age". In Paolo, Tasca; Aste, Tomaso; Pelizzon, Loriana; Perony, Nicolas. Banking Beyond Banks and Money. Springer. p. 176. ISBN 9783319424484. OCLC 958179585 – via Google Books (preview-level access). Search this book on
  2. ↑ "BTCJam - Highlights". BTCjam.
  3. ↑ Shieber, Jonathan (June 5, 2014). "BTCJam Brings Its Bitcoin-Based Lending Service To Emerging Markets". Tech Crunch.
  4. ↑ "Juros do cartão de crédito sobem para o maior nível desde março de 1999". UOL Economia.
  5. ↑ "500 Startups - BTCjam". 500 Startups. 500 Startups.
  6. ↑ "BTCjam Launches New Automatic Investing Tool » Brave New Coin". Bravenewcoin. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
  7. ↑ Bello Perez, Yessi. "Bitcoin Foundation's Patrick Murck to Advise BTCJam" (17 February 2015). CoinDesk. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  8. ↑ DeMartino, Ian (2016). The Bitcoin Guidebook. New York: Skyhorse. ISBN 9781510701489. OCLC 965916651 – via Google Books (Preview). Search this book on
  9. ↑ Higgins, Stan (11 March 2016). "Bitcoin Lending Platform BTCJam Stops Taking New US Customers". CoinDesk. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  10. ↑ BTCJam is closing
  11. ↑ "30 Hot Fintech Startups to Watch". Fox Business. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  12. ↑ "The 25 most exciting bitcoin startups". Business Insider. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  13. ↑ "The 10 Most Promising Startups Building Stuff With Blockchain Technology". Business Insider. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  14. ↑ "The Sand Hill 25 Bitcoin Innovative Disrupters | Sandhill". sandhill.com. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  15. ↑ "The 5 Hottest Finance Startups from 2014". 12 August 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2016.

External links[edit]


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