Indian bitcoin trading platform Coinsecure has raised $1.2 million as part of its ongoing Series-A investment round from an undisclosed investor. The company opened the fund-raising round earlier in January this year and expects to close a total of $5-million funding soon. The start-up had also received a seed round of $3,00,000 from angel investor Sanjeev Kalra last year.

Founded in July 2014 by Mohit Kalra and Benson Samuel, Coinsecure launched its bitcoin exchange for the domestic market on January 1, 2015. “The funds raised will be used to expand our reach in both domestic and international markets. Coinsecure will also be using these funds to further explore global markets and to introduce Ethereum and other blockchain innovations,” said Kalra, Founder and CEO.

Coinsecure offers an algorithmic trading bitcoin exchange where users can buy and sell bitcoins for actual money at a fee of 0.3 per cent of the amount bought or exchanged, which the start-up claims is the lowest fee charged in India. While 90 per cent of the start-up’s customers are stock traders, 10 per cent are IT professionals, journalists and bloggers who get paid in bitcoins for the work they do for international clients.

Jincy Samuel, COO and Centre Head, Coinsecure told BusinessLine that while bitcoins can be encashed via bank wire transfers, it typically takes 3-4 days for customers to receive the payment at a much higher fee ranging from 2.5-4 per cent. “Bitcoins can also be exchanged for money through Paypal or Western Union on the same working day, but there are restrictions on the amount of money that can be transferred to India and the fee charged is much higher than that charged by banks,” she said.

Since its launch in January until the end of March, Coinsecure has seen 18,000 bitcoin transactions at an average rate of ₹27,000 per bitcoin. In addition to the algorithmic trading bitcoin exchange, the company also offers a blockchain explorer, free APIs for all their products, a mock trading platform for users to try trading without real money, online and offline wallet services to store bitcoins and has a number of integrations with global partners, including Netki.

Raising awareness

Companies such as Coinsecure along with others in the bitcoin ecosystem, including BTCXIndia, Zebpay and Unocoin, have been trying to raise bitcoin awareness in the country by focusing on bringing this new technology to schools, colleges and other industries with the aim of educating and informing people about digital currency. “India needs a strong case to start using bitcoin. Coinsecure is on the verge of delivering a solution for Indian merchants and users to engage with bitcoin and its experience, without any volatility or conversion risks,” Mohit Kalra said.

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