Netagio British Bitcoin Exchange Launches Dollar and Euro Trading In Response to Consumer Demand

According to a recent announcement by Netagio, the power of the people has, yet again, prevailed in the bitcoin ecosystem, and their voices are loud and clear. Prior to today, Netagio only dealt in bitcoin trading when it came to sterling and gold. But their customers put pressure on the exchange to re-evaluate their priorities and offer different currency exchanges, so Netagio made the call.

Simon Hamblin, CEO of Netagio, said this upon the announcement of dollar and euro trading:

“Building on our success of already operating a Bitcoin / GBP order book, and having listened to our customers’ demands, we are excited to add USD and EUR trading to our platform.”

In the light of the new currency additions, the British bitcoin exchange decided to cease all gold offerings and no longer plan to provide customers with the opportunity to buy and sell bitcoins for gold. Hamblin ultimately sees this as a good move, though, because of the size of the United States and European markets.

“Furthermore, adding the ability to trade Bitcoins for additional currencies will further drive liquidity to our exchange, which will ultimately benefit our increasingly global customer base.”

Netagio will also be taking their maker-taker model into the dollar and euro order books to encourage liquidity provision. The maker-taker model is simple. When a customer places a new order, it cannot be matched to an existing order. Customers placing an order are considered “makers” and earn a trade rebate. “Takers” are customers matching those existing orders. Netagio said:

“In combination, the new order books and the extension of the maker-taker model are designed to increase the opportunities for both retail customers and institutional investors seeking opportunities in the Bitcoin marketplace.”

Also read: Bitreserve Merges Bitcoin and Gold

Reasoning Behind Netagio Decision Wasn’t Solely Based on Their Customers

While Netagio may have heard their customers asking for more currency options, the numbers don’t lie either on what currencies traders want to use. According to Netagio, the decision to open new order books is a reflection of the overall Bitcoin marketplace; one that the company’s research shows it normally sees 27 percent trading occurring in dollar markets and 2.5 percent in euro markets.

According to Hamblin, the U.S. and European markets show simply too strong of a demand to overlook.

“The US and Europe are the largest markets for Bitcoin trading, after China, and as such present a great opportunity for retail and institutional investors wishing to access these markets.”

Netagio did not say that they would be offering any yuan trading, even though their research shows that China is powerful in the cryptocurrency trading realm.

Netagio Was the First Bitcoin Exchange to Attain ISAE 3000

In September, Netagio became the first bitcoin exchange to attain assurance for their bitcoin storage with the ISAE 3000. The ISAE 3000 stands for International Standard on Engagement and is an internationally recognized standard.

Back when the British bitcoin exchange still dealt in gold, Hamblin said this upon the announcement.

“We are delighted to have our Bitcoin storage environment be positively assessed in line with the ISAE 3000 standard. This latest recognition reinforces our commitment to growing our secure, peer-to-peer exchange platform on which to trade Bitcoin, gold and sterling, and is a stepping stone towards maturity in the community of companies operating in the Bitcoin space.”

Images from Netagio and Shutterstock.