Revolut surpasses 3 million customers

Summary:

• UK startup Revolut, offering payments in both fiat currencies and digital currencies, surpasses 3 million users

• IMF’s Lagarde says the international community should consider endorsing central bank issued digital currencies

• Dash to test its local support around $155

Cryptocurrencies are experiencing slight declines during Wednesday’s trading with Bitcoin falling a bit more than 1.5% at the time of writing. The moderate sell-off is also seen elsewhere but moves have been quite limited as of yet. Today we’re focusing on two major news concerning one of the most successful financial startup as well as the latest comments from Christine Lagarde.

Revolut, the fintech platform, has recently announced that it has surpassed three million users. The company was established in 2015 and it offers payment and exchange services for a growing number of fiat currencies as well as cryptocurrencies. On its Twitter account the firm wrote “Three years ago, banks and investors laughed at us. Today, we have signed up three million customers and no one is laughing now. Thank you!” The Revolut’s platform is currently available to residents of the following European countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K. The latest plans presented by the company suggest that it aims to enter other markets including the US, Canada and Australia.

Bitcoin is moving within quite a narrow range and it’s expected to move in that way in the nearest future. Source: xStation5

During her speech in Singapore IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said that despite being “not entirely convinced” on the concept of cryptocurrencies more generally, there may be a case for states to issue government-backed tokens or similar assets. She added that “I believe we should consider the possibility to issue digital currency. There may be a role for the state to supply money to the digital economy”. Even as she expressed some encouraging remarks regarding digital currencies she also underlined some risks related to central bank issued digital currencies. Lagarde said that “I would also like to highlight risks of stifling innovation — the last thing you want. My main point will be that we should face these risks creatively”.