Corporate News

Bitcoin Group SE plans to apply for permission to conduct crypto-custody-business within its Group of companies

  • Group of companies will expand its position as the leading custodian for crypto-assets in Germany
  • Inclusion of futurum bank AG as depositary opens up new potential in the market with institutional clients

Herford, December 16, 2019 – Bitcoin Group SE (ISIN DE000A1TNV91) plans to submit the application for permission to conduct the crypto-custody-business to the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). The application has become necessary within the framework of the Act to Implement the Amendment Directive to the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive. Accordingly, the crypto-custody-business will be included in the German Banking Act as a new financial service on behalf of customers. With the entry into force of the law on January 1, 2020, BaFin will thus create a unified legal framework and enable banks to offer and hold cryptocurrencies in safe custody.

 

Bitcoin Group SE, which operates Europe's largest cryptocurrency trading platform with Bitcoin.de, today, already holds the leading position in Germany as a custodian of crypto- assets. Simultaneously with the application for the permission for Bitcoin.de, permission for the 100% Group subsidiary, the futurum bank AG, is also applied for. In this way, the Group will expand its services in the business with institutional customers, which is bundled in futurum bank AG. In the future, Bitcoin Group SE will also be able to act as custodian of crypto-assets for business customers following approval by BaFin. This opens up a wider customer base and additional revenue potential.

"We have a positive attitude towards the crypto-protector arrangement. It offers a number of opportunities that we would like to seize resolutely. On the one hand, it creates a reliable legal framework, which will ensure further trust on the part of our customers. On the other hand, the harmonisation of the BaFin will open up the market to other players such as banks and financial service providers. This can only be beneficial to the spread of cryptocurrencies. We are optimistic that, as a pioneer in the cryptocurrency market, we will benefit from these developments. Therefore, we will apply for the permission for the contribution of the crypto-custody-business also in the entire Group of companies," says the Managing director of Bitcoin Group SE, Marco Bodewein.

Bitcoin Group SE publishes half-year report 2019 – strong development and implementation of key projects

  • EBIT amounts to TEUR 4,228 (previous year: TEUR 4,874)
  • Number of users on trading platform increases to 808,000
  • Implementation of key projects for broadening the business model
  • Forecast for 2019 financial year confirmed

Herford, September 30, 2019 - Bitcoin Group SE (ISIN DE000A1TNV91) today published its figures for the first half-year 2019. Turnover amounted to TEUR 2,455 in the reporting period, compared to TEUR 8,348 in the first half of 2018. Within the framework of a Bitcoin market that was quoted sideways, especially at the start of 2019 - and therefore accompanied by a decline in press attention - the corresponding trading revenues stagnated. During the reporting period, however, there were clear signs of recovery on the crypto currency markets, which led to stronger prices and, as a result, strong upward movements. The Bitcoin share price rose from EUR 3,257.05 at the end of December 2018 to EUR 9,992.17 at the end of the first half of 2019. Bitcoin Group SE generated earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of TEUR 4,228 in the first half of 2019 after TEUR 4,874 in the same period of the previous year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to TEUR 1,231 compared to TEUR 7,563 in the first half of 2018. Bitcoin Group SE implemented the recommendation of the IFRS Interpretations Committee with the publication of the Annual Report 2018, according to which crypto currency holdings must be shown under fixed assets instead of current assets and changes in value, therefore, also affect the income statement through write-ups and write-downs.

The dynamic increase of the Bitcoin share price resulted in a further growth of customer numbers on Bitcoin.de. At the end of the first half of 2018, 753,000 customers were still using the extensive services of Bitcoin.de. By the end of June 2019, 808,000 customers were using the site. The high response from customers is also based on the continuous expansion of usability and the range of services offered on the trading platform. Bitcoin Group SE launched the Bitcoin.de app after the reporting period in mid-August. Customers now have the option of using all the functionalities of the browser solution on their smartphones. Regardless of whether it's price enquiries, sales history or trades - with the Bitcoin.de app, users always have a clear overview of their crypto currency investments. The launch of the Bitcoin.de app is one of the key projects of Bitcoin Group SE in 2019 to continue to diversify the business model and accelerate its growth. The Group is impressively demonstrating its high level of competence and speed in implementation.

This also includes the aim of developing Bitcoin.de into a crypto currency marketplace with a multilateral approach. The Bitcoin Group SE has already translated its words into actions in this area by the end of 2018. For example, futurum bank GmbH (formerly Tremmel Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH) was acquired. The transaction was approved by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) in July 2019. This means that, from now on, it will be possible to issue own products in connection with crypto currencies, carry out proprietary trading with crypto currencies and operate ATMs for crypto currencies.

"We are satisfied with the business development in the first half of 2019. It is totally in line with our expectations. The sustained recovery on the crypto currency markets proves once again that Bitcoin and Co. have come to stay, and acceptance is growing continuously. Combined with the measures we have taken to diversify our business model; we will be able to accelerate corporate growth. So, we look positively at the upcoming tasks and the remaining business year 2019," says the Managing Director of Bitcoin Group SE, Marco Bodewein.

Given the further expansion of the service portfolio and the continuing rise in demand for crypto currencies, the management remains optimistic for the 2019 financial year and confirms its forecast. Concretely, the management expects a turnover result that will build on the success of the second half of 2018. Furthermore, a positive EBITDA is expected. Due to the reluctance of market participants to invest in crypto currencies at the beginning of 2019, together with declining media interest, the management of Bitcoin Group SE expects a slowdown in new customer acquisition and up to 850,000 registered users on Bitcoin.de in the 2019 financial year.

The English version of the Half-Year Report 2019 will be available in about two weeks time, the German version can be downloaded as a PDF document from www.bitcoingroup.com in the Investor Relations section.

Bitcoin Group SE holds Annual General Meeting 2019

  • High approval rates for all proposed resolutions
  • After successful acquisition on the road to further growth

Herford, July 12, 2019 – Bitcoin Group SE (ISIN DE000A1TNV91) today held its Annual General Meeting in Herford for the past 2018 financial year. The shareholders approved the proposals of the management with clear majorities in all agenda items.

The present shareholders of Bitcoin Group SE followed the recommendation of the management to discharge the members of the Board of Directors and the managing directors for the 2018 financial year. Baker Tilly Roelfs AG, Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Munich, was appointed as auditor and group auditor.

After the successful acquisition of futurum bank GmbH (formerly Tremmel WertpapierhandelsbankGmbH) on July 10, 2019, the managing directors of Bitcoin Group SE reported on developments in the past financial year and glanced into the future. The company aims to further strengthen and expand its position in a dynamically growing crypto market. Thisincludes an expansion of the range of services and the usability of Germany's only regulated trading platform for crypto currencies, Bitcoin.de. In addition, the business model will be further diversified,and new sales are to be tapped. The installation of the first Bitcoin ATMs and the launch of the Bitcoin.de app are among the short-term goals.

"We look to the future with optimism after a robust growth inthe 2018financial year. The dynamic increasein the prices of key crypto currencies and the growing interest of the media will drive our business. We areparticularpleased aboutthe successful acquisition of futurum bank GmbH. Now we can continue towork on further developing Bitcoin.de into a crypto currency exchange in the future and on expanding our range of services as a whole," says Managing Director Marco Bodewein.

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Bitcoin Group SE: Cryptocurrencies in Germany more popular than shares –and Bitcoin.de is marketplacenumber one

  • Nearly every tenth German has cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoins
  • In terms of ownership, cryptocurrencies are more popular than equities
  • Bitcoin.deis the most frequently used marketplacein Germany

Herford, 06 June 2019 -Bitcoin Group SE (ISIN DE000A1TNV91) continues to successfully pursue its expansion path. As arepresentative study of the Blockchain Research Lab (BRL), an independent research institute in the field of blockchain technology, shows, Bitcoin.deis in the favor of the Germans by far in first place. Already more than 62% of the German cryptomoney users trust Germany's only regulated marketplace.

At the same time, more and more people in Germany are recognizing the potential of digital currencies.More than 18% of the respondents stated that they either currently own cryptocurrencies (9.2%) or have traded in the past (9.1%). 58% of respondents from these two groups have even mined coins themselves.

Cryptocurrencies are becoming more and more popular and are apparently also taking on a steadily increasing value in terms of their significance for financial investments. With 9.2% the cryptocurrency possession ratio in Germany is even higher than that of share ownership. According to information from the Deutsches Aktieninstitut (DAI), this will amount to 7.1% in 2018 for direct investments in individual stocks. Overall, it should be noted that the population of potential cryptocurrency owners in the study is smaller, since they are persons of full age with an Internet connection, whereas the DAI includes all German citizens aged 14 and over in its analysis.

"The study shows that cryptocurrencies have long since arrived in the middle of society. This is not surprising, as they have numerous advantages such as inflation protection, counterfeit protection and a decentralised structure. We are certain that the spread will continue to increase once savings products such as exchange-traded index funds (ETFs) or bonds in cryptocurrencies are issued. We not only want to profit from this development,but at the same time,we also want to drive it forward. For this we have in the current financial year 2019 still some plans, like the installationof the first Bitcoin cash automats in Germany or the Launch of the Bitcoin.deApp”, saysMarco Bodewein, Managing Directorof the Bitcoin Group SE.

Bitcoin Group SE publishes Annual Report 2018 - Revenue exceeds adjusted forecast

  • Turnover of TEUR 11,333 above adjusted forecast of TEUR 9,500 (previous year: TEUR 12,650)
  • EBITDA amounts to TEUR 8,657 (previous year: TEUR 10,906)
  • Further milestones achieved to expand business model

Herford, May 31, 2019 - Bitcoin Group SE (ISIN DE000A1TNV91) today published its figures for the 2018 fiscal year. Turnover amounted to TEUR 11,333 and was thus above the forecast of TEUR 9,500 adjusted in December 2018. Turnover in the previous year 2017 was TEUR 12,650. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) reached TEUR 8,657 after TEUR 10,906 in the previous year. As a result of the recent recommendation of the IFRS Interpretations Committee, to show cryptocurrencies as fixed assets instead of current assets and thus to show changes in value in the income statement via write-ups and write-downs, there was a higher need for write-downs in the year under review in the amount of TEUR 6,197. The write-down has no effect on the profit from ordinary activities (EBITDA). Without the application of this accounting recommendation, profit before taxes would have been TEUR 8,629 and therefore around TEUR 1,600 above the forecasted figure of TEUR 7,000. Bitcoin.de, Germany's only regulated trading place for cryptocurrencies, had 779,000 customers as of the 2018 balance sheet date. The number of users increased by 112,000 compared to the previous year (667,000).

For Bitcoin Group SE, the 2018 financial year showed a two-fold development. In the first six months, business continued to develop solidly due to the strong tailwind of the cryptocurrency market. In the second half of 2018, the environment for the entire industry clouded over, which was reflected in declining price notes for major cryptocurrencies. Towards the end of the financial year and beyond, however, there were clear signs of recovery on the markets, leading to significantly higher cryptocurrency prices. This trend supports optimism for the current 2019 financial year.

In order to further diversify the group's business model, significant milestones were reached. After the acquisition of futurum Bank GmbH (formerly Tremmel Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH), it is now possible to issue own products in connection with cryptocurrencies, carry out proprietary trading in cryptocurrencies and operate ATMs for cryptocurrencies. The introduction of crypto-to-crypto trading on Bitcoin.de in April 2019 offers both customers and companies advantages. The aim is to develop Bitcoin.de into a cryptocurrency exchange with a multilateral approach.

"In the 2018 financial year, we were able to take important steps to become even more independent of the development of cryptocurrency exchange rates in the future. For the current fiscal year 2019, we want to use the optimistic outlook on the cryptocurrency markets to further grow and expand our business model. This includes the launch of the Bitcoin.de app and the installation of the first Bitcoin ATMs. In this way, we will continue to fulfill our claim as an innovation leader in the German-speaking region and increase acceptance and attention for cryptocurrencies," says Marco Bodewein, Managing Director of Bitcoin Group SE.

Bitcoin Group SE now offers crypto-to-crypto trading on Bitcoin.de

  • Trading with own wallet enables trading of further coins on Bitcoin.de
  • Cryptocurrency Dash and ERC token Golem added for trading
  • Additional cryptocurrencies are to be permitted for trading

Herford, 1 April 2019 –With its crypto-to-crypto trading Bitcoin Group SE (ISIN DE000A1TNV91) is massively expanding the services of Germany's only regulated trading platform for cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin.de. The model of "crypto-to-crypto trading with users own wallet" is unique. The newly introduced coins are not paid into the wallets of Bitcoin.debut are sent directly from the seller's private wallet to the buyer's private wallet. Bitcoin.de only manages the Bitcoins, which serve as a means of payment for the purchase of the other cryptocurrencies.

Customers of Bitcoin.de will be familiar with the model that has proven itself on Bitcoin.de since 2011: Although the marketplace holds a seller's Bitcoins in trust, the euros involved in trading are transferred directly from the buyer's bank account to that of the seller. As soon as the Euro transaction is confirmed, Bitcoin.de releases the reserved Bitcoins to the buyer.

In crypto-to-crypto trading, new currencies such as Dash (DASH) or Golem (GNT) take on the role of the euro: they are sent from the seller's wallet to the buyer's wallet, while the buyer reserves Bitcoins on Bitcoin.de. The marketplace releases them as soon as a transaction is confirmed, which Bitcoin.de can verify in real time due to the transparency of the blockchains.

One advantage of this model is that customers can react morequickly. With conventional stock exchanges, it is necessary to deposit cryptocurrencies first on a wallet of the stock exchange operator, which can take 10 minutes up to possibly several hours. With crypto-to-crypto trading, customers can accept an offer immediately as soon as they have access to their cryptocurrency.

For customers who are used to crypto-euro trading; however, there is a significant difference: Bitcoin.de no longer manages the cryptocurrencies they trade. While this eliminates the need for a convenient and secure method of storing the cryptocurrencies purchased, it also gives customers an incentive to use their cryptocurrencies in the same way as the actual idea of cryptocurrencies: On their wallet, as the owner of the private keys and with full control.

For Bitcoin.de, this also entails an educational mission: the marketplace will inform its customers about suitable wallets for the various cryptocurrencies and provide instructions to help them manage their coins with appropriate security.

In future,Bitcoin.de plans beside the cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) to also offer Ether (ETH) as a means of payment. In addition,numerous further cryptocurrencies are to be certified for the crypto-to-crypto trade. Currently planned are Stellar (XLM), IOTA (IOTA), Litecoin (LTC) and other tokens based on Ethereum and Stellar.

"The crypto-to-crypto trade is a great benefit for both customers and Bitcoin.de," says Oliver Flaskämper, founder and CEO of Bitcoin Deutschland AG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bitcoin Group SE and operator of Bitcoin.de. "Our customers will be able to trade a much larger number of different cryptocurrencies and tokens in the future. The provision of more and more online wallets would not have been the right way. We are therefore focusing on the main advantage of cryptocurrencies: Decentralization. Ownersof cryptocurrencies can be their own bank and do not have to trust a service provider when it comes to storing their coins," continues Oliver Flaskämper. "In this way, we promote the autonomy of our customers and ultimately the knowledge of how to deal with cryptocurrencies".

"With the crypto-to-crypto trade, we have expanded our product range to include an important service for our customers. At the same time, we are sending the signal 'promised and delivered' to our shareholders and the capital market as a whole. Crypto-to-crypto-trading offers us numerous attractive opportunities to introduce additional currencies and make cryptocurrency transactions more efficient and secure," says Marco Bodewein, Managing Director of Bitcoin Group SE.

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