Bitcoin Market Summary - Spark Capital - Produced by Oxana Kunets
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Report
Economy & Finance
Technology
This is an analysis by Oxana Kunets, a Columbia GSB MBA that Spark Capital hired on HourlyNerd to study the Bitcoin market. It's a summary of: 1) what is bitcoin, 2) the companies in the space, and 3) concluding investment thesis recommendations.
Bitcoin Definition
Bitcoin is a consensus-based peer-to-peer network that
enables a new payment system and a completely decentralized
digital currency.
The network consists of the same copy of a digital file, listing
accounts like a ledger and maintained on every computer on
the network.
4
Bitcoin Process and Bitcoin Supply
Blocks
Transactions
• Openly broadcasted to network
• Unique digital signature
• Links with previous transactions
• 50K-70K transactions daily
Blocks Chain
• Determine the order of
transactions
• Answer unique math problem
• Built by pools of miners:
approximately 144 blocks/d per
day
• Now 25 bitcoins are released to
pool of miners for a solved block
• Consists of blocks referencing
each other (double spending
protection)
• Simultaneously solved blocks
build several branches
• Chain is switched to a longest
branch
• Attacking the system is not
economically viable
“Mining” is a competitive and decentralized process of spending computing power to process
transactions and secure the network by using specialized hardware and collecting new bitcoins in
exchange for this service.
Mining Rewards Schedule – Capping the Total Supply
2009 -2012: 50.0 BTC
2013-2016:
25.0 BTC
2017-2021: 12.5 BTC
∙∙∙
6
Bitcoin Ecosystem Participants
3
2
a
a
1
b
b
v
c
4
c
1. Obtain and load a wallet: a) Cash Deposit; b)
Bank Transfer; c) ATM.
2. Transact with Bitcoin network: a) Merchants;
b) Exchanges; c) Investment Vehicles (no
wallet needed); d) Borrow and Lend.
d
3. Transactions are confirmed by the network.
4. Store the remaining balances of Bitcoins: a) In
Bitcoin wallet; b) In bank account; c) Withdraw
via ATM.
7
Companies in Bitcoin Ecosystem
Wallets
•
•
1
2
2
• Stock Exchanges.
•
•
2
3
4
2
Bitcoin ETFs and Investment Trusts;
Bitcoin Venture Funds.
Others
•
•
•
•
1
Bitcoin Mining Hardware;
Bitcoin ATMs.
Investment Vehicles
•
•
OTC Bitcoin Exchanges;
Spot and Forward Exchanges;
Borrowing and Lending
Hardware and Equipment
•
•
Payment Service Providers;
Payment Networks.
Exchanges
•
•
4
Software Wallets;
Web and Mobile Wallets.
Payment Processors
•
•
1
5
6
N
Bitcoin Binary Options;
Bitcoin Casinos;
Bitcoin Microwork Sites.
Etc…
Peer-to-peer borrowing and lending;
Bank-like borrowing and lending.
8
Bitcoin Wallets
FUNCTION
Responsible for storing, sending, and receiving of bitcoins
TYPES
Software wallets – store Bitcoin on user’s computer:
• Full Bitcoin client – contributes to checking network transactions, heavy
resource usage, locally stored complete block chain;
• Lightweight Bitcoin client – does not store the block chain history, but uses
remote server; fast, but less secure.
Web wallets – store bitcoins in the cloud:
• Do not require download of the full chain; accessible on any device;
• User gives up some security.
Mobile wallets – brings Bitcoin to user’s pocket:
• Fast and easy point of sale payment method;
• User gives up some security.
REVENUE MODEL
Can be free, “donationware”, and fee-based;
Added fees for extra functions, such as conversion of BTC to USD.
RISKS
Software wallets: malicious software or loss of wallet leads to loss of bitcoins;
Web and Mobile wallets: bitcoins are protected by a third party.
10
Bitcoin Wallets: Examples in Brief
Software Wallets
•
•
•
•
Bitcoin QT – full Bitcoin client, open source, free; original software by BTC founder (Satoshi Nakamoto)
Armory – full Bitcoin client with advanced features, open source, free, by Armory Technologies
Multibit – lightweight Bitcoin client, open source, free, “donationware”
Electrum – lightweight Bitcoin client, open source, free
Web and Mobile Wallets
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bitcoin Wallet and Mycelium Wallet – Android free applications
Blockchain.info – free web, Android, and Apple (restricted mode) wallet
Coinbase – free web and Android wallet with payment processing tools for merchants
BIPS – web wallet offered with BIPS payment processing solutions for European merchants
EasyWallet –web-based wallet with fees for transactions
StrongCoin – free hybrid Bitcoin wallet
Flexcoin – call themselves “Bitcoin bank”, a web-based wallet with fees for transactions
11
Notable Wallets: Armory Technologies Inc.
ABOUT
The most secure and feature-rich
Bitcoin wallet application: pioneers in
storing and transacting BTC. Deemed
as an “Add-On” to the main Bitcoin
client.
LOCATION:
n/a
ESTABLISHED
2011
VALUE CHAIN
Bitcoin full client
FOUNDERS Alan Reiner:
•Advanced degrees in mathematics focusing on cryptography and statistics;
•Previously worked as a physicist at Johns Hopkins University.
REVENUE
MODEL
Not monetized yet
FUNDING
9/2013: $600K seed (partially in dollars and partially in BTC)
Investors: Trace Mayer, Kevin Bombino, Jim Smith
12
Notable Wallets: Blockchain.info
ABOUT
Blockchain explorer; operates a hybrid LOCATION
wallet1 – “largest and most secure
ESTABLISHED
wallet service.” January 2013: 110K
registered users; enables 10-20% of
VALUE CHAIN
all Bitcoin transactions.
UK
2011
Web/mobile wallet and data
provider
FOUNDERS Ben Reeves:
•Freelance software developer based in the UK;
•Apps include AIM Addict & FTSE.
REVENUE
MODEL
Service is free
FUNDING
Per Angel List, “We are seeking investment to reach more mainstream markets.”
1. In a hybrid wallet, the bitcoins are not stored with the server, but instead are held in the user’s web browser.
The service provider or a hacker, hence, cannot access or spend from such wallet.
13
Notable Wallets: Coinbase
ABOUT
Digital wallet and provider of the Bitcoin
LOCATION
payment processing capabilities to
ESTABLISHED
merchants. Allows cashing out in the local
currency. Per site, 299K wallets, 11K
VALUE CHAIN:
merchants.
San Francisco, CA
2012
Web/mobile wallet and
payment processing
FOUNDERS Brian Armstrong:
•2011-2012 worked on fraud prevention at Airbnb as a software engineer;
•Co-founded UniversityTutor.com in 2004.
Fred Ehrsam:
• Former trader at Goldman Sachs.
REVENUE
MODEL
Free wallet; no charge or transaction fee to accept payments; 1% fee to convert bitcoins
into a local currency.
FUNDING
9/2012: $600K seed
Investors: Alexis Ohanian, Y Combinator, Greg Kidd, Garry Tan, FundersClub
5/2013: $6,11M Series A
Investors: USV, Ribbit Capital, SV Angel, Red Swan, Interplay Ventures, FoundersClub
14
Notable Wallets: EasyWallet
ABOUT
Instead of a traditional combination of LOCATION
username and password to protect
ESTABLISHED
the access to a wallet, this service
uses a secret link, created for a new
VALUE CHAIN
visitor automatically.
Finland
2012
Web wallet
FOUNDERS The site refers all questions to Jeremias Kangas, the CEO of LocalBitcoins.com, “a
marketplace for trading bitcoins locally for cash or online payments of user’s choice.”
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
0.003 BTC per outgoing transaction (including Bitcoin network fee); if a wallet balance is
over 12 BTC, a 0.0335% daily (about 1 percent monthly) storage fee applies.
n/a
15
Notable Wallets: StrongCoin
ABOUT
Hybrid Bitcoin wallet, providing
additional safety to a user’s bitcoins.
Per site, 7K users.
LOCATION
London, UK
ESTABLISHED
2011
VALUE CHAIN
Web wallet and payment
processing
FOUNDERS Ian Purton:
•Also runs OTC bitcoins exchange, Bitcoinary;
•Currently builds “distributed exchange” allowing people buy and sell bitcoins for fiat
currency.
REVENUE
MODEL
Wallet is free; 0.5% transaction fee for merchant capabilities.
FUNDING
n/a
16
Notable Wallets: Flexcoin
ABOUT
Provides a user with a centralized
Bitcoin account accessible from any
device; gives a simple flexcoin ID
replacing a complex address, and
pays “discount payments” on the
incurred fees back to account owner.
LOCATION
Canada
ESTABLISHED
2011
VALUE CHAIN
Web wallet and Bitcoin bank
FOUNDERS n/a
Was sold from Yooter (digital marketing) to group of Canada investors, headed BY James
Gray in 2012
REVENUE
MODEL
Flexcoin to flexcoin – free; flexcoin to email – free; Bitcoin to flexcoin – free; flexcoin to
Bitcoin – greater of 0.01BTC or 1.5% of transaction amount; cold storage transaction fee
(outbound) – greater of 0.02BTC or 1.0% of transaction amount; cold storage transaction
fee (inbound) – greater of 0.01BTC or 1.5% of transaction amount.
FUNDING
n/a
17
Bitcoin Wallets: Conclusion
Although a necessary part of the Bitcoin infrastructure, most
of the reputable Bitcoin wallets are not monetized per se.
Additional services, like currency exchange or merchant tools,
provide revenue generating capabilities.
Safety of a wallet is a prime concern for a user.
18
Bitcoin Payment Processors
FUNCTION
Enabling users to accept and make payments in bitcoins
TYPES
Payment service providers (including merchant acquiring and gateway):
• Payment services for exchanges;
• Payment services for online and offline merchants.
Payment networks:
• Independent payment network with Bitcoin as one of the serviced currencies.
REVENUE MODEL
Fees for transferring funds; fees for converting payments into local currency;
subscription fees; bank wire fees; security fees.
RISKS
Ability to quickly generate a critical number of businesses and individuals served;
Competition puts downward pressure on fees;
Switching between providers is not complex.
20
Payment Processers: Examples in Brief
Payment Service Providers
•
•
•
•
•
BitInstant – payment processer to main Bitcoin exchanges
BitPay – payment service provider to merchants globally
BIPS – payment processing solutions for European merchants
BitPagos – payment service provider to Latin American merchants
Coinbase – free web and Android wallet with payment processing tools for merchants
Payment Networks
• Ripple Labs – Distributed payment network with Bitoin as one of the currencies
21
Notable Payment Processors: BitInstant
ABOUT
Allows quick transferring of funds to
LOCATION
online exchanges. Currently,
ESTABLISHED
BitInstant is re-launching the website
due to numerous complains and class
VALUE CHAIN
action lawsuit filed against it.
New York, NY
2011
Payment processor for
exchanges
FOUNDERS Charlie Shrem:
•Also a partner at EVR, lounge in Manhattan;
•Vice Chairman of BitCoin Foundation;
•Co-founder of Daily Checkout (sold to BlueSwitch), ecommerce in deal-a-day space.
REVENUE
MODEL
Fee for transferring of funds: depending on type of transaction, fee ranges from as low as
0.26% up to 3.99%.
FUNDING
5/2013: $1,5M seed
Investor: Winklevoss Capital Management
22
Notable Payment Processors: BitPay
ABOUT
Enables merchants to accept bitcoins for
payment, keep revenues in BTC or deposit local
currency daily into their bank account. Per site,
10K+ merchant network, 164 countries.
LOCATION
Atlanta, GA
ESTABLISHED
2011
VALUE CHAIN
Payment service
provider
FOUNDERS Anthony Gallippi:
•Former District Sales Manager at Aerotech;
•Regional Sales Manager at Industrial Devices Corporation.
Stephen Pair:
•20 years of building software systems in the financial and telecom industries;
•Entrepreneur, architect, manager, team lead and developer.
REVENUE
MODEL
1% flat fee to process and convert payments; beginning November, three levels of service
with 0% transaction fee and a flat monthly payment ($30 Professional, $300 Business,
$3,000 Enterprise).
FUNDING
1/2013: $510K seed: Shakil Khan, Barry Silbert, Jimmy Furland, Roger Ver, Matt Mullenweg,
Ben Davenport, Trace Mayer, Ashton Kutcher
5/2013: $2M seed: Founders Fund
23
Notable Payment Processors: BIPS
ABOUT
The largest provider of Bitcoin
payments in Europe for both ecommerce and in-store
transactions. Per site, serves 15K+
customers worldwide .
LOCATION
Denmark
ESTABLISHED
2011 (2013 launch)
VALUE CHAIN
Payment service provider with
web and mobile wallet
FOUNDERS Kris Henriksen:
•Also the founder of WalletBit, shut down in July 2013 due to declining popularity
and founders’ switch to BIPS;
•Bitcoin miner.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Sell BTC to PayPal – 11%, sell to EgoPay (e-currency processor) – free plus bank wire
fees;
Buy BTC with Money Gram – 3.99%, buy with EgoPay – free plus bank wire fees.
n/a
24
Notable Payment Processors: BitPagos
ABOUT
The first payment gateway focused on
Argentina. BitPagos accepts credit card
payments and pays out to merchants in
Bitcoin while charging a fee.
Location:
San Francisco, CA
Established:
2013
Value Chain:
Payment service provider
FOUNDERS Sebastian Serrano:
•Founded devsAr, a software development company;
•“Developer since 7, MBA, python lover.”
Mugur Marculescu:
•Previously at Lytro, Citrix, Viacom, MTV Networks;
•Co-founded animated gif social startup WeGIF.
Luciana Gruszeczka:
•MBA and COO of devsAr.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Generates “low fees” on the processed transactions
Summer 2013: participates in the Boost VC accelerator’s 12 week program, founded by
Adam Draper (son of Tim Draper)
25
Notable Payment Processors: eCoin Cashier
ABOUT
FOUNDERS
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Mobile application that will allow
individuals to sell bitcoins for fiat
currency and receive that payment in
PayPal, credit card, prepaid card, or
directly into a bank account .
LOCATION
ESTABLISHED
VALUE CHAIN
New York, NY
2013 (coming soon)
Payment service provider:
virtual ATM
Andre De Castro:
•Active member of Bitcoin NYC community;
•President of RightClick LLC (parent company controlling eCoin Cashier);
•Outspoken proponent of Bitcoin.
n/a
n/a
26
Notable Payment Processors: Ripple Labs
ABOUT
Distributed payment network
LOCATION
enabling free and instant payments to
ESTABLISHED
merchants, consumers, and
developers in any currency - including
Bitcoin. Maintains its own currency – VALUE CHAIN
XRP. Per site, 144K transactions, 24.5K
active users.
San Francisco, CA
2012
Payment network with
payment processing, wallet,
and currency exchange
FOUNDERS Chris Larsen:
•Former CEO of Prosper.com, a P2P lending marketplace;
•Co-funder of E-LOAN, financial ecommerce, offering savings accounts and certificates
of deposit.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
No merchant fees (no transaction, no network, no operator fees), security cost fee— “a
tiny cost for transactions that only impacts abusive users.”
4/2013: Angel round: Andreessen Horowitz, FF Angel LLC, Lightspeed Venture Partners,
Vast Ventures, BitCoin Opportunity Fund;
5/2013: Angel Round: Google Ventures, IDG Capital Partners.
27
Bitcoin Payment Processing: Conclusion
Payment processing appears to be an attractive business
model due to a large volume of transactions daily and a
growing number of merchants accepting Bitcoin. Ability to
acquire merchants is the key to success.
Competition, however puts downward pressure on fees.
28
Bitcoin Exchanges
FUNCTION
Allowing users trade Bitcoin in exchange for local currency, precious metals, or stock
TYPES
OTC BitCoin Exchanges:
• Aggregate and display outstanding Bitcoin supply and demand;
• Allow users transact with each other directly, taking counterparty risk.
Spot and Forward Exchanges:
• Allow users transact through the centralized system;
• Exchange Bitcoin to multiple currencies, single currency, or bet on future Bitcoin
price.
BTC Stocks:
• Stocks: Invest Bitcoin in projects in exchange for shares in the business
(crowdfunding).
REVENUE MODEL
Fee as a percentage of a completed transaction amount; deposit fees; withdrawal
fees.
RISKS
In OTC exchanges, users heavily rely on counterparty reputation;
In centralized exchanges, ability to quickly generate a critical number of businesses,
individuals, and/or currencies served is the key to scaling.
30
Bitcoin Exchanges: Examples in Brief
OTC BitCoin Exchanges
• LocalBitcoins.com – decentralized exchange for users to buy and sell BTC
• Bitcoinary – peer-to-peer exchange and “reputation system”
• #bitcoin-otc – aggregator of outstanding demand and supply for BTC
Spot and Forward Exchanges
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
MtGox – Japan based largest and oldest Bitcoin exchange
BitStamp – European Union based Bitcoin marketplace
Coinsetter – New York based platform that aggregates trades on major exchanges
Kraken – exchange for Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ripple currencies
Coinabul – first Bitcoin to gold and silver exchange
BitBox – California-based Bitcoin exchange
ICBIT – Sweden based exchange, offering Bitcoin futures trading
BTC Stocks and Options
• Crypto::Stocks – crowdfund projects, trade shares in projects, pay dividends
31
Notable Exchanges: LocalBitcoins.com
ABOUT
FOUNDERS
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Decentralized exchange where users post LOCATION
advertisements with stated exchange
ESTABLISHED
rate and payment methods for buying or
VALUE CHAIN
selling bitcoins. Per site, 180 countries,
3246 cities.
Finland
2012
Bitcoin OTC exchange
Jeremias Kangas:
•Also connected to EasyWallet, a Bitcoin web wallet;
•Programmer and entrepreneur;
•With his brother and a team of Internet technology specialists, participated in Startup
Sauna, one of the world leading startup acceleration programs.
No fee related to buying and selling without advertisement; 1% fee for buying and selling
as advertiser, and 0.0001-0.0004 BTC per outgoing transfer.
Site states that venture capital raised is €0. The team, however, participated in an
accelerator program.
32
Notable Exchanges: Bitcoinary
ABOUT
FOUNDERS
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
A peer to peer exchange and
reputation system, building a web of
trust between buyers and sellers to
enable easier transfers in and out of
Bitcoin.
LOCATION
London, UK
ESTABLISHED
2012
VALUE CHAIN
Bitcoin OTC exchange
Ian Purton:
•Also runs StrongCoin, web wallet and payment processing;
•Currently builds “distributed exchange” allowing people buy and sell Bitcoin for fiat
currency.
Per Bitcointalk.org, 2.5% fee for a BitCoin to PayPal trade.
n/a
33
Notable Exchanges: Mt.Gox
ABOUT
Hosts and operates the leading Bitcoin
Location:
trading platform, facilitating the exchange
Established:
of bitcoins between individuals and
businesses internationally. Also provides
Value Chain:
merchant tools.
Japan
2010
Currency exchange and
payment processor
FOUNDERS Jed McCaleb:
•Sold MtGox to Tibanne (now managed by Mark Karpeles) in 2011;
•Also co-founder of Ripple, distributed payment network with BTC as one of the
currencies;
•Created eDonkey in 2000, largest p2p file sharing network at the time;
•Some speculate that he might be Satoshi Nakamoto, creator of Bitcoin;
•“Dropped out of UC Berkeley in his freshman year to start building things.”
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
2.5% premium when a trade involves orders in different currencies (buy BTC in euro and
sell BTC in dollars); 0.25%-0.60% transaction fee depending on volume.
n/a
34
Notable Exchanges: BitStamp
ABOUT
European Union based Bitcoin
LOCATION
marketplace. It allows people from all
ESTABLISHED
around the world to safely buy and sell
bitcoins. Despite European location, USD- VALUE CHAIN
BTC is the main pair.
Slovenia
2011
Currency exchange
FOUNDERS Nejc Kodric:
•Prior, owned a company selling computer components and laptops;
•Marketing Director & Co-Founder at GSračunalniki .
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
0.20%-0.50% trading fee depending on volume; free to establish deposit through SEPA
(Single European Payments Area); 0.90 € for withdrawals.
n/a
35
Notable Exchanges: Coinsetter
ABOUT
Built by Wall Street professionals,
New York based platform aggregates trades on
major exchanges to offer the best price and
soon plans to offer earning interest on BitCoin
loans.
LOCATION
New York, NY
ESTABLISHED
2012
VALUE
CHAIN
Currency exchange
FOUNDERS Jaron Lukasiewicz:
•Co-Founder of Ticketometer, a social media-focused online ticketing platform;
•Former Associate at The CapStreet Group, a Houston-based private equity firm;
•Former investment banker at J.P. Morgan and Sanders Morris Harris.
Yo Sub Kwon:
•Co-founder of LaunchKey, providing passwordless online authentication services;
•Partner at Ticketometer;
•Co-founder of Shirts By Me, crowd funded T-Shirt community.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
0.30%-0.50% trading fee; 010%-0.20% for market-makers.
04/2013: $500K seed: Barry Silbert (SecondMarket CEO), Tribeca Venture Partners
36
Notable Exchanges: Kraken (Payward)
ABOUT
Exchange system with advanced order
features allowing trading Bitcoin, Litecoin,
and Ripple currency (13 currency pairs in
total) with USD and EUR.
LOCATION
San Francisco, CA
ESTABLISHED
2012
VALUE CHAIN
Currency exchange
FOUNDERS Jesse Powel:
•President at Verge center for the Arts;
•Co-founder of Internet Ventures & Holdings (networks catering to the gamer
community);
•Former CEO at Lewt, “services for virtual worlds.”
Walter Stanish:
•Systems Architect Saffron Digital;
•Founder of China Hotel Startup.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
0.05%-0.30% trading fee depending on volume and currency pair
Per Angel List, their investor is Roger Ver (invested in BitPay, works at BitInstant, partner at
Bit Angels, and AKA “bitcoin Jesus”).
37
Notable Exchanges: BTC-E
ABOUT
A platform for individuals interested in buying and
selling Bitcoins using an assortment of world
currencies, including the U.S. dollar, Russian ruble,
and other cryptocurrencies like Litecoin and
Namecoin. Handles 11.2% of Bitcoin transactions.
LOCATION
n/a
ESTABLISHED
2011
VALUE CHAIN
Currency exchange
FOUNDERS n/a
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
0.2% fee on each transaction;
fee 0.5% or USD/RUR conversion
n/a
38
Notable Exchanges: Coinabul
ABOUT
Coinabul is the first platform to offer
conversion of Bitcoins into gold and
silver, both coins and bars of various
weights. By the end of 2012,
transacted 120K BTC.
LOCATION
Wyoming
ESTABLISHED
2011
VALUE CHAIN
BTC to gold and silver exchange
FOUNDERS Jay Shore:
•Self-described “metal bug”
Jon Holmquist:
•Resigned from Coinabul to work with Roger Ver on BitCoin Store, an ecommerce site
that sells electronics for bitcoin.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Selling precious metals for BTC
n/a
39
Notable Exchanges: BitBox
ABOUT
Established on the premise that
LOCATION
Bitcoin economy is simply too large for ESTABLISHED
one exchange (Mt.Gox?) to handle, no
VALUE CHAIN
matter how efficient and scalable its
architecture may be.
Ann Arbor, Michigan
2013
Bitcoin exchange and payment
processor
FOUNDERS Kinnard Hockenhull:
•Dropped out of University of Michigan to start a company.
Corey Goldstein:
•Entrepreneur since 5th grade;
•University of Michigan.
REVENUE
MODEL
0.25%-0.75% trading fee depending on volume for “liquidity takers”;
0.20%-0.70% trading fee depending on volume for “liquidity providers” plus fees for
deposit and withdrawal.
FUNDING
Summer 2013: participates in the Boost VC accelerator’s 12 week program, founded by
Adam Draper (son of Tim Draper);
TechArb: the University of Michigan's student startup incubator.
40
Notable Exchanges: Crypto::Stocks
ABOUT
Crowdfunding platform that allows
supporting projects in exchange for
shares and potential dividends. Supports
Bitcoins, Litecoins or Devcoins. Options
can be written on any securities listed.
LOCATION
n/a
ESTABLISHED
2012
VALUE CHAIN
Bitcoin crowdfunding and
stock exchange
FOUNDERS Service from the developers of Vircurex (Virtual Currency Exchange)
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Trading: 0.15% plus security specific fee; list a security: 2BTC; issue an option and buy an
option: 0.01BTC; exercise an option 0.30%; withdrawal fees: 0.01BTC; share transfer fees:
0.01%.
n/a
41
Bitcoin Exchanges: Conclusion
Despite the presence of the dominant player, Mt.Gox, startups
see a lot of space to innovate with additional trading services,
exchange pairs (both currency and precious metals), and
financial instruments (forwards, shares).
42
Bitcoin Hardware and Equipment
FUNCTION
Provide hardware and equipment for the entire bitcoin infrastructure
TYPES
Mining Hardware:
• Hardware that secures the network and facilitates building of the chain;
• Electricity consuming equipment varies by computational strength.
Bitcoin ATMs:
• Invented to enable cashing out BTC into a local currency and loading bitcoin
account by using cash;
• Provide an alternative to transferring of BTC info a bank account or PayPal from
a wallet.
REVENUE MODEL
Revenues from sales of hardware and equipment;
Maintenance fee for ATMs plus a share of transaction fees.
RISKS
Mining hardware may cost more in energy than the benefits it generates;
Limited total Bitcoin supply caps the demand for mining hardware;
Success of ATMs depends on acceptance and security measures.
44
Bitcoin Hardware and Equipment: Examples in Brief
Mining Hardware
• Butterfly Labs – high speed line of miner and encryption processors for bitcoin mining, research,
telecom, and security application
• Avalon – hardware specifically for mining bitcoins, supporter of open source movement and releases
chip data sheets, unit reference designs, and controller codes
• HashFast Technologies - semiconductor company specializing in extreme performance of bitcoin
mining chips and machines
Bitcoin ATMs
• Lamassu Bitcoin Ventures – cash to bitcoins one way machine
• RoboCoin – machine that allows buying and selling bitcoin
• BitcoinATM – exchanges BTC to the local currency and vise versa
45
Notable Equipment and Hardware: Butterfly Labs
ABOUT
Manufactures a line of high speed
encryption processors for use in bitcoin
mining, research, telecommunications,
and security applications.
LOCATION
El Monte, KS
ESTABLISHED
n/a
VALUE CHAIN
Bitcoin hardware and
consulting services
FOUNDERS Sonny Vleisides:
•VP of Product development, serial entrepreneur in encryption platforms for banking
and communication and online gaming;
•Was implicated in $25 Million mail order fraud.
Nasser Ghoseiri:
•15 years of design experience, both software and hardware;
•Held IT Consultant/Engineering roles at Societe-Generale bank of France, Embedded
systems consultant at LOTSYS; software engineer in Marchal Technologies.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Revenues from equipment sales: prices range from $75 for a mining chip to $22,48 for a
processor; consulting revenues.
n/a
46
Notable Equipment and Hardware: Avalon
ABOUT
Manufactures ASIC-based bitcoin
miners, custom-built rigs with
specially designed chips. Makes all
design information publically
available.
LOCATION
New York, NY
ESTABLISHED
2012
VALUE CHAIN
Bitcoin mining hardware
FOUNDERS Yifu Guo:
•Founding member of BitSyncom, which holds auctions of mining units, allowing
participants to submit their own bids;
•Also created Bitcoin Navigator, a website that showed verified physical locations that
accepted bitcoins;
•None of the Avalon team has their mining units except for testing.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Revenues from equipment sales: equipment is priced in BTC; prices range from 4BTC to
15BTC. 600 miners batch was sold out in 15 minutes.
n/a
47
Notable Equipment and Hardware: HashFast
Technologies
ABOUT
Semiconductor company specializing in
extreme performance of bitcoin mining chips
and machines. Per site, the first chip is in
final stages and will ship in October.
LOCATION
San Francisco, CA
ESTABLISHED
2013
VALUE CHAIN
Bitcoin chips and mining
hardware
FOUNDERS Simon Barber (CTO):
•In 2011, he proposed the development of ASIC chip specifically for Bitcoin mining;
•Former research engineer at Palo Alto Research Center, influential tech think tank;
•Founder of Deviscape, a provider of advance WiFi solutions for mobile platforms.
Eduardo deCastro (CEO):
•Founder of Deviscape – secured$7 Million on investment;
•Former general manager at European Operations at Contact Networks.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Revenues from chips: at launch, first three batches were sold out immediately
6/2013: completed the first financing round for unknown amount
48
Notable Equipment and Hardware : Lamassu Bitcoin
Ventures
ABOUT
ATM-like machine that accepts fiat
currency from over 200 countries in
exchange for bitcoins within 15 seconds.
First 15 pre-orders production started in
August 2013.
LOCATION
Manchester, UK
ESTABLISHED
2013
VALUE CHAIN
Bitcoin ATM
FOUNDERS Zach Harvey and Josh Harvey:
•Former owners of guitar stores;
•Bitcoin enthusiasts since 2010.
Matt Willock:
•Network security expert and software/hardware engineer.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Instead of licensing and charging software and franchise fees, they sell device outright:
1-4 unit cost $5,000, 5-9 units for $4,500, 10 and more units for $4,000.
Self-funded; considering external funding in future.
49
Notable Equipment and Hardware: Robocoin
ABOUT
ATM kiosk accepting and dispensing
cash in exchange for Bitcoins. First
orders are shipped to Canada in
October 2013. Federally compliant
biometrics locks to provide security.
LOCATION
Las Vegas, NV
ESTABLISHED
2013
VALUE CHAIN
Bitcoin ATM
FOUNDERS Jordan Kelley:
•CEO and Chief of Product of Handii, handyman on demand;
•Founder and CEO of Decent Enterprise, platform for other mobile technologies;
•Founder of jobbi, an international job website.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Machine is priced at $20,000 ($18,500 for early birds). The owner of a machine will earn
transaction fees.
n/a
50
Notable Equipment and Hardware: Bitcoin ATM
ABOUT
FOUNDERS
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Developed a bi-directional Bitcoin ATM
for accepting an dispensing cash for
BTC. Currently, claim to have 300+
orders from 30+ countries.
LOCATION
Los Angeles, CA
ESTABLISHED
2013
VALUE CHAIN
Bitcoin ATM
Jeff Berwick:
•Founder of StockHouse Media Corporation (financial website in Canada);
•Founder of The Dollar Vigilante, a joint venture publication featuring the theme
of US dollar based financial system collapse.
Fee of $10,000 to ATM operators in maintenance, 3% user fee is split between
operator and Bitcoin ATM.
Self-funded; currently seeking investors $1-3Million to fulfill orders.
51
Bitcoin Hardware and Equipment: Conclusion
Hardware and equipment, built specifically for
BitCoin, represent one of the most recent development in the
value chain.
Despite the novice and potentially capped demand for the
mining equipment due to the capped Bitcoin supply, the
demand seems to exceed the supply of the market leaders’
offerings.
52
Bitcoin Investment Vehicles
FUNCTION
Investment in Bitcoin with the goal of generating returns
TYPES
Bitcoin ETFs – tracks BTC price and trades like a stock:
• Allows exposure and simplifies access to digital currency;
• Sell short, buy on margin, hold small or large number of shares.
Bitcoin Investment Trusts – generates capital gains on NAV of fund shares:
• Open-ended funds with one share equal to a portion of BTC;
• Invest solely in BTC for the purpose of its appreciation .
Bitcoin Venture Funds – providing capital to high-potential Bitcoin startups:
• “Professional” investing of institutional capital;
• Investing of one’s private capital.
REVENUE MODEL
Management fee (or management expense ratio); performance fee (in case of
active investments);
Dividends, share buybacks at premium.
RISKS
ETFs require liquidity of assets and efficiency of exchanges;
Volatility of BTC and security issues may make returns completely speculative;
Large enough, ETFs and mutual funds can start affecting the BTC price;
Lack of acceptance of BTC may not award attractive exits for VCs.
54
Bitcoin Investment Vehicles: Examples in Brief
ETFs and Investment Trusts
• Exante BitCoin Fund – mutual fund-like investment vehicle in Europe
• Bitcoin Investment Trust – mutual fund-like investment vehicle in the US
• Winklevoss Investment Trust – Bitcoin ETF-like investment vehicle
Venture Funds
• CoinLab – Bitcoin infrastructure startup incubator
• Boost VC BitCoin Fund – California-based Bitcoin startup incubator
• BitAngels – world’s first distributed veteran entrepreneur and angel investor group
55
Notable Investment Vehicles: Exante Bitcoin Fund
ABOUT
“The fund that invests in the economy of
the next generation”; the investment
objective is to achieve capital gains in the
NAV of the Fund Shares. Minimum
account starts from 10K € for individual
and 50K € for institutional clients.
LOCATION
Bermuda
ESTABLISHED
2011
VALUE CHAIN
Mutual fund-like vehicle
FOUNDERS Alexey Kirienko:
•Trading derivatives on the global market since 2003.
Gatis Eglitis:
• Institutional Sales Trader and institutional business sales manager at Saxo Bank.
Anatoliy Knyazev:
•Mathematician and programmer, director at Global Hedge Capital Group.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Up-front subscription fee to 0.5% of the subscription amount; Safekeeping and
Administration fee is 1.75% of the net share value. Redemption Charge of 0.5%.
Open-ended investment vehicle. The fund currently manages a portfolio of 90,000 bitcoins.
56
Notable Investment Vehicles: BitCoin Investment
Trust
ABOUT
FOUNDERS
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
A private, open-ended trust invested
exclusively in Bitcoin and derives its
value solely from the price of bitcoin.
For accredited investors only with $25K
minimum investment.
LOCATION
New York, NY
ESTABLISHED
2013
VALUE CHAIN
Mutual fund-like vehicle
Barry Silbert:
• CEO of Second Market;
• Investor in Coinsetter (Bitcoin forex), BitPay (BitCoin payment processor), CoinLab
(Bitcoin incubator), and numerous other startups.
Annual administrative and safekeeping fee of 2%; the front-end fee (waived for
investments made in 2013), will be 1.5%. Once investors are allowed to sell shares
on Second Market in 2014, the back-end fee will be 1.5%.
Open-ended investment vehicle sponsored by Alternative Currency Asset
Management, wholly owned subsidiary of SecondMarket.
57
Notable Investment Vehicles: Winklevoss Bitcoin
Trust
ABOUT
Investment vehicle with the objective for
its Shares to reflect the performance of
the Blended Bitcoin Price, less the Trust’s
expenses. Shares will be sold in Baskets
(10,000BTC = 50,000 shares) to investors.
LOCATION
New York, NY
ESTABLISHED
2013
VALUE CHAIN
Bitcoin ETF
FOUNDERS Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss:
•Founders of Winklevoss Capital Management;
•Investors in BitInstant, SumZero, and Hukkster (instant sale alerts).
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
The Sponsor’s Fee will accrue daily at an TBD rate equal and will be payable monthly in
arrears.
IPO Value of $20 million
58
Notable Investment Vehicles: CoinLab
ABOUT
Bitcoin business incubator that builds
businesses that provide fundamental
infrastructure for Bitcoin. Launched
Alydian, turnkey at-scale Bitcoin
mining solutions.
LOCATION
Seattle, WA
ESTABLISHED
2011
VALUE CHAIN
Bitcoin infrastructure startups
Incubator
FOUNDERS Peter J. Vessenes:
•Serial tech entrepreneur and served on the board of a few tech companies;
•Degree in Theoretical Mathematics with an emphasis in cryptography.
Jodie Brady:
•Private financing, M&A, IPO and experience with technology companies;
•Strategic planning at Clearwire Corporation, business operations at Pixelworks, Inc.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Return on investments in portfolio companies. Prior to becoming an incubator, they
planned to monetize idle computing resources in online gaming to use in BitCoin mining.
5/2012:Partial Close $500K: Draper Fisher Jurvetson
4/2013: Debt $575K
59
Notable Investment Vehicles: Boost VC Bitcoin Fund
ABOUT
Incubator/accelerator providing office, LOCATION
housing, and investment to Bitcoin
ESTABLISHED
companies; 12 week program.
VALUE CHAIN
Incubated BitBox and BitPagos.
San Mateo, CA
2012
Bitcoin startups Incubator
FOUNDERS Adam Draper:
•Son of Tim Draper;
•Founder of Ender's Fund (Asynchronous Mobile Games Studio), Xpert Financial (online
platform for capital raising and secondary trading of private companies).
Brayton Williams:
• Worked at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and Xpert Financial.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Return on investments in portfolio companies
Lightspeed Venture Partners, Rothenberg ventures for the n/a amount
60
Bitcoin Investment Vehicles: Conclusion
ETF and mutual find-like investment vehicles are yet to gain
popularity due to the high volatility of the digital currency and
strong potential of a large player to influence the price.
Very prominent venture capital investors increasingly fund
companies providing services within the Bitcoin ecosystem.
61
Bitcoin Borrowing and Lending
FUNCTION
Provides an opportunity to borrow and lend bitcoins and earn interest on the
amount of loan
TYPES
Peer-to-Peer – allows a creditor to choose which loan to fund:
• Borrowers are graded by creditworthiness, which defines repayment parameters;
• Lenders browse loans listings to find ones meeting their investment criteria.
Bank-like Lending 1 – borrower or lender are not identified for each other:
• Deposit BTC to earn high interest rate;
• Borrow BTC from the platform in form of a loan.
REVENUE MODEL
Closing fees as percentage of loan amount;
Late payment fees and credit rating fees;
Interest rate spread.
RISKS
For peer-to-peer: site reputation heavily depends on borrowers quality;
For bank-like lending: ability to generate positive spread defines success of the
enterprise;
Volatility of BTC relatively to fiat can quickly wipe out the loan value for a lender.
1. The term is used unofficially to contrast these transactions to peer-to-peer alternative; the companies in this
group are explicitly not government-insured banks.
63
Borrowing and Lending: Examples in Brief
Peer-to-peer Lending
• Bitbond.net – connects small business borrowers and lenders directly
• BitLendingClub – peer-to-peer Bitcoin lending network with Dutch auction
• BTCJam – peer-to-peer Bitcoin lending network
Bank-like Transactions
• BitDeposit.net – offers interest on deposits, business loans, insurance on the BTC price, and small
business funding
• CoinLenders – the website offering loans, credit rating verifications, and certificates of deposit
64
Notable Borrowing and Lending Platforms:
BitBond.net
ABOUT
The platform conducts an appraisal of
borrowers’ creditworthiness, allows small
business owners to publish projects, and lenders
– to fund the projects all around the world.
LOCATION
Berlin, Germany
ESTABLISHED
2013
VALUE CHAIN
P2P lending platform
FOUNDERS Radoslav Albrecht:
•Previously, restructuring consultant at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants;
•Analyst at Deutsche Bank and Greenhill.
Jürgen Walter:
•Before, Senior Rails Developer at Wimdu (online marketplace for apartment rentals);
•Director Middleware Applications at San Francisco State University.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Auctioned loan is funded either if the requested amount is reached during the auction or
if the funded amount is 1.0BTC or more at the end of the auction;
Borrowers pay rating fee of EUR5 (SEPA area)or 0.05BTC (non-SEPA area);
Origination fees range from 0.5%-3.0%; no lenders’ fees.
Bitbond.net is run by CreditSix Marketplace GmbH, a German private limited company.
65
Notable Borrowing and Lending Platforms:
BitLendingClub
ABOUT
BitLendingClub is a peer-to-peer Bitcoin lending
platform. Lending is conducted via a Dutch auction: the
lenders submit competing offers to fulfill the request in
part or in whole. The Platform combines the lowest
offers that add up to the requested loan amount.
LOCATION
Streamwood, IL
ESTABLISHE
D
2012
VALUE
CHAIN
P2P lending
platform
FOUNDERS Kiril Gantchev:
•Software engineer, Bitcoin investor and an entrepreneur;
•Adgooroo (keyword suggestion and tracking), Tanager (cyber security) – 7 years of
experience in developing software, MS in Software Engineering.
Yansen Yankov:
• Software engineer, entrepreneur and all-around technology guru;
• Cisco Systems, Axway (software and services) – 7 years of software development
experience.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
1% flat loan fee collected with each repayment (to align the platform’s interests with
those of lenders)
n/a
66
Notable Borrowing and Lending Platforms: BTCJam
ABOUT
Allows investors earn higher returns
and borrowers choose rates they can
afford within the community of
globally trusted people.
LOCATION
Campinas, Brazil
ESTABLISHED
2012
VALUE CHAIN
P2P lending platform
FOUNDERS Celso Pitta:
•Built cryptography systems for Visa and Citibank EDI platforms;
•Patented neural network computer vision device;
•Computer Engineering at UNICAMP.
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
BTCJam is not responsible for loan repayment and does not moderate the listings.
Free for lenders; Loans below 10 BTC are charged a 4% closing from the amount funded;
All other loans are charged a 1% closing fee;
Late payment fee is the greater of 5% of the unpaid value or 0.5BTC.
Owned by Ovo Cósmico LTDA
67
Notable Borrowing and Lending Platforms:
BitDeposit.net
ABOUT
Bitcoin “bank” offering up to 21.2% interest on
BTC deposits. Per site, deposited bitcoins are
used to help the Bitcoin economy by buying
mining contracts, investing in and lending to
Bitcoin businesses. 35,108.243 BTC deposited.
LOCATION
Amsterdam,
Netherlands
ESTABLISHED
2013
VALUE CHAIN
Bank-like transactions
FOUNDERS Call themselves “a tight team of bitcoin lovers, financial experts and IT experts.”
NOTE that bitcointalk.org contains a thread discussing the company’s legitimacy: checking
the address the bitcoin deposit needs to be submitted to in the block chain explorer
indicated 0 BTC (and 19.68BTC total received as of 19/10/13 vs. claimed total deposits)
REVENUE
MODEL
FUNDING
Earning the spread between interest earned on investing and lending and interest paid to
depositors.
n/a
68
Notable Borrowing and Lending Platforms:
CoinLenders
ABOUT
A website that provides (and keeps track of)
bitcoin loans, and offers credit ratings / ID
verifications. CoinLenders gives fee rebates for
having balance on platform (22.23% annually) as
well as buying CDs (22.8% annually).
LOCATION
Sydney, Australia
ESTABLISHED
n/a
VALUE CHAIN
Bank-like transactions
FOUNDERS Nicknamed TradeFortress:
• Google search of his name finds a few posts claiming that he is a scammer (yet posts
are written by people rated poorly, whereas TradeFortress is rated highly); he is also
the one who proclaimed BitDeposit.net a scam).
NOTE that the site has the following disclaimer on every page: This is a demo instance of
the CoinLenders Bitcoin Bank Script. While this demo is fully functional, nothing is real, and
nothing is an investment.
REVENUE
MODEL
Investing users deposits in Bitcoin loans issued to low risk borrowers; Bitcoin denominated
securities and assets; Funding for new cryptocurrency businesses and ventures; Margin
trading. Loan application fee of 0.05BTC; 1% daily of the outstanding loan for late payment.
FUNDING
n/a
69
Bitcoin Borrowing and Lending: Conclusion
While Borrowing and Lending platforms represent a great
potential with Bitcoin credit card being a part of it, the site
owners release themselves of the liability for the loan
repayment and from the guarantees on deposit investments.
Release of the liability causes significant volume of discussion
about the platforms legitimacy and feasibility of the returns.
70
Other Companies and Opportunities: Examples in
Brief
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Miner Lease – Bitcoin mining contracts for investment;
BTC Levels – platform allowing a user to profit from correct prediction of the BTC price forecasts;
Satoshidise – leading Bitcoin gaming site;
Coinster – cryptocurrency search engine with search results only related to cryptocurrencies;
BTCVoip – provides VOIP services at low prices for BTC only;
BitcoinGet – allows earning bitcoins by watching the videos and completing simple tasks;
Cryptcard - international prepaid Bitcoin loadable virtual MasterCard to get money to the people, who
do not accept bitcoins.
72
Bitcoin Ecosystem Map
1 Armory
Technologies
2 Blockchain.info
3 Coinbase
4 EasyWallet
5 StrongCoin
6 Flexcoin
7 BitInstant
8 BitPay
9 BIPS
10 BitPagos
11 eCoin Cashier
14 Bitcoinary
15 Mt.Gox
16 BitStamp
17 Coinsetter
18 Kraken
19 BTC-E
20 Coinabul
21 BitBox
22 Crypto::Stocks
23 ButterflyLabs
24 Avalon
27 Robocoin
28 BitcoinATM
29 Exante
30 BitCoin Investment
Trust
31 Winklevoss Bitcoin
Trust
32 CoinLab
33 Boost VC
34 BitBond.net
35 BitLendingClub
36 BTCJam
37 BitDeposit.net
12 Ripple Labs
25 HashFast
Technologies
38 CoinLenders
13 Localbitcoins.com 26 Lamassu Bitcoin
Ventures
Red Stars - very small or un-monetized companies from various sectors;
Yellow – wallets;
Light Blue - payment processors;
Green – exchanges;
Peach - hardware and equipment;
Grey - investment vehicles;
Dark blue - borrowing and lending.
The size of the bubbles corresponds with the revenue-generating potential, given the pricing, site traffic, and users’
behavior on site.
74
Bitcoin Ecosystem Map Methodology
• User adoption, defined by the site ranking and the time spent on the site per visit, affects a
company's success
• We assume that, aside from the differences in the bounce rate, the conversion rate of an engaged
user is approximately the same on all sites
• Bounce rate is the rate of people leaving the site after opening only one page
• Hence, we assume that the product of the site traffic and bounce rate allows comparing companies
in terms of number of paying users
• We assume that an average user performs same number of transactions and average transaction size
is the same for all the companies
• We assume that difference in the size of the fees and number of paying users allows comparing
companies for the revenue-generating potential
• High revenue potential does not mean, however, that a company is actually making money
75
Bitcoin Ecosystem: Conclusions
• While a necessary part of Bitcoin ecosystem, most of the wallets are provided for free. Coinbase,
positioning itself as a wallet, earns its money by converting BTC to USD;
• Benefitting on the large number of transactions, Bitcoin payment processors hold a strong position
in the value chain; downward pressure on fees from competition and establishment of new payment
networks for different cryptocurrencies (Ripple) can weaken the processors;
• While maintaining a loyal user base, Bitcoin exchanges seem to compete on price and new trading
opportunities, adding more instruments and currency pairs;
• Bitcoin mining hardware and ATMs experience sellers’ market; capped supply of BTC, however,
would not allow such imbalance to carry on for a long time;
• The main problem with the Bitcoin traded investment vehicles is the ability of a big player to affect
the Bitcoin price, hence, disrupting the forces of market supply and demand;
• A number of startups is receiving funding from prominent venture capital investors to grow services
within the Bitcoin ecosystem;
• Borrowing and lending in Bitcoin seems to be the space where a lot of new opportunities are being
created; the lack of legal protection, however, results in a great caution from the users;
• The Bitcoin vale chain is still in formation with the number of services are yet to come.
76
Red Stars - very small by traffic, users, or revenue companies, or un-monetized companies from various sectors;Yellow – wallets;Light Blue - payment processors;Green – exchanges;Peach - hardware and equipment;Grey - investment vehicles;Dark blue - borrowing and lending.