CASE STUDY: COINCORNER

CoinCorner was founded in 2014 with the aim to make Bitcoin easy and accessible to everyone. Based on the Isle of Man, they are trusted by retail consumers and businesses around the world, and have worked closely with the government on both Bitcoin regulation and education.

In this case study, we will examine the key challenges faced by CoinCorner and how they managed to achieve success in a highly competitive and rapidly evolving industry. 

Please tell us about CoinCorner: when and where it was established and what you do?

CoinCorner was founded in 2014, here on the Isle of Man, as an easy way to buy and sell Bitcoin in the UK and Isle of Man. Nearly a decade on, and while buying and selling Bitcoin remains very much at the core of what we do, we have expanded our Bitcoin services over the years to include business accounts, payment processing, remittance services, and more.

Our team is based out of our offices in Douglas, but we operate in 45+ countries and have 350,000+ customers worldwide.

What challenges have you faced since starting up?

Banking, industry reputation, regulation and marketing have been some of the biggest challenges we’ve faced over the years.

Banking

Banking was always going to pose challenges and complexities due to cryptocurrency being a new and emerging industry, and while regulatory uncertainties will remain a prevalent issue across our industry for the foreseeable future, fortunately, we were able to resolve our banking issues, but it was definitely one of our biggest challenges early on.

Reputation

Industry reputation has been challenging at times! From the association with Silk Road in the early days, to more recently, people claiming that Bitcoin mining is bad for the environment, the Bitcoin/crypto industry is fighting a daily fight against the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) pumped out by the mainstream media.

As a company, we do our best to debunk the myths and educate people where we can - through public talks, video explainers, written pieces, and more. The part we play in helping educate people about Bitcoin may be small, but as the saying goes, “small steps lead to big changes”, and the perception of Bitcoin is slowly changing. 

Regulation

Operating in a relatively new and rapidly evolving market means regulation is another challenge we face. Regulatory challenges include complying with anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations and navigating legal issues related to the trading and custody of cryptocurrencies. Additionally, different countries have different regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies, which can create challenges for businesses, like ourselves, who operate in multiple jurisdictions.

Despite these challenges, we have been successful in adapting to the changing regulatory landscape and continue to play an important role in the adoption and growth of the cryptocurrency industry.

Marketing

In recent years, marketing has become a challenge for Bitcoin businesses like ourselves. Again, access to marketing is something that most businesses take for granted, but for us, it can feel like manoeuvring through a minefield at times.

With the tightening of regulation around the Bitcoin and crypto industry, marketing has become heavily restricted, but on the plus side, it has forced us to think “outside the box” in order to remain in the public eye.

You recently launched the Bolt Card, what problem does it solves and how does it improve customer transactions?

The Bolt Card is the world’s first contactless Bitcoin Lightning card. It doesn’t use Visa, it doesn’t use Mastercard, it uses the Bitcoin Lightning Network.

The idea for The Bolt Card came from our belief that in-person Bitcoin payments were not as efficient and user-friendly as they needed to be for the mass audience.

Paying with Bitcoin typically involves opening a phone, opening an app, scanning a QR code and then making the transaction. We felt that this was a backwards step in terms of user-experience when compared to what modern day consumers are used to: 91% of in-person payments in the UK are made with a contactless card (Barclaycard), and globally, contactless (NFC) payments are becoming more popular.

The familiarity of being able to “tap and pay” with The Bolt Card - just like you would with your Visa card or Mastercard - is another step towards making Bitcoin the norm.

What are the key benefits to CoinCorner and your staff being based in the Isle of Man?

One of the key benefits of operating a business in the Isle of Man is the close links and communication with regulators. This helps businesses like ourselves stay informed about regulatory changes and comply with the relevant laws and regulations.

The Isle of Man is also home to other thriving sectors, such as finance and technology, so being based here too allows for easy access to those markets. The island is a hotbed of innovation, with a thriving entrepreneurial community and access to a highly skilled workforce. In addition, the Isle of Man offers an Enterprise grant that encourages sustainable growth, providing financial support and resources to help businesses achieve their goals.

All of these factors combine to make the Isle of Man an attractive location for businesses seeking to grow and succeed in a dynamic and supportive environment.

What are the next steps for CoinCorner in 2023 and how did the recent acquisition of BitIreland go?

Much of our focus for 2023 is going to be around growing our latest offering, Send Globally.

We announced Send Globally in December 2022 as a cheaper, faster way to transfer funds around the world. Millions of people with British pound (GBP) or Euro (EUR) will be able to transfer funds to family and friends, freely and instantly.

Currently, our customers in the UK and Europe can send funds to Africa (Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana) and the Philippines, with more countries coming soon!

We’ll also be launching eMoney Accounts soon which is a safeguarded account available to businesses including sole traders and limited companies across a range of countries. GBP and EUR accounts are currently in beta for our business clients, with retail to follow later this year.

Our recent acquisition of the Irish Bitcoin exchange, BitIreland, went very smoothly. This was our second acquisition, following the acquisition of the UK’s longest-running Bitcoin exchange, Coinfloor, in October 2021. CoinCorner continues to go from strength to strength and we intend to keep growing our team, our product offering, and our global presence.

To find out more about CoinCorner, click here.