Tech

DigaTrade Bitcoin exchange launching in Vancouver

Bit-X Financial Corp. aims to compete with Bitstamp

by Stephen Hui on June 24th, 2015 at 10:57 AM
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      Brad Moynes says he wants to build the E-Trade of the cryptocurrency world.

      He’s the 45-year-old president of Vancouver-based Bit-X Financial Corp., which will launch on Monday (June 29) a new Bitcoin exchange called DigaTrade.

      “The first wave [of Bitcoin exchanges] has already gone through a consolidation,” Moynes told the Georgia Straight during an interview at his company’s downtown office. “There was a lot of new exchanges. They weren’t built properly. A lot of customers lost their money.”

      Nevertheless, DigaTrade enters a crowded market. Vancouver alone is already home to the digital-currency exchanges Cointrader (acquired by Newnote Financial Corp. in March), Quadriga CX, and Taurus.

      Moynes said he’s looking to compete with the major international exchanges, such as U.K.–based Bitstamp.

      DigaTrade, which uses technology from Hong Kong–based ANX, will allow people from around the world to trade the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Ripple, and Stellar for Canadian dollars and vice versa. Support for the U.S. dollar, British pound, and euro will be added soon after launch.

      “Our API [application program interface] order book goes out on to the Internet and sources out the best price worldwide,” Moynes said, explaining how DigaTrade is different than the other locally based exchanges. “We usually source the bitcoins from the exchanges in China, like Bitfinex, BTC China, and OKCoin.”

      Bit-X, formerly an oil-and-gas exploration firm known as Rainchief Energy, will require DigaTrade users to produce a passport or driver’s licence, a bank statement, and a utility bill in order to verify their identities and locations. Users will pay a commission of 0.5 percent on limit orders and 0.75 percent on market orders.

      Moynes likened the state of Bitcoin to the Internet in 1996.

      “I think that there’s going to be a lot of developments and a lot of innovation, and a lot of things are going happen later this year and next year,” Moynes said. “We’re just starting to see venture-capital funds come into the sector. We’re now north of US$700 million into the sector, which is just the tip of the iceberg.”

      Bit-X shares are traded over the counter under the symbol BITXF on the OTCQB.

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