A Newcastle tech firm that lets you send Bitcoin using social media has raised $2m in investment to develop an app.
Block Matrix has created a platform called Bottle Pay that allows users to send and receive Bitcoin using their existing social media profiles.
By logging into social media accounts they already trust, such as Twitter and Instagram, users are able to view their existing friends and connections, then send Bitcoin even if they do not have a Bottle Pay account.
Newcastle Quayside based Block Matrix was founded by Pete Cheyne, who was one of the original founders of Newcastle tech firm Partnerize in 2010.
The firm is seeking to make Bitcoin accessible to all as its popularity as a digital currency rises.
Bitcoin is not controlled by banks or governments, and the technology behind the currenc – known as blockchain – creates a public record of every Bitcoin transaction, meaning that the currencies’ use can be tracked. This creates additional security against crimes such as money laundering.
Mr Cheyne said: “We are trying to break down the barriers to allow everyone to use Bitcoin. Our initial focus will be Bottle. That is where we raised the seed fund from, off the back of the product.”
Explaining how it works, he said: “What we want to do is to let people authenticate into the app with an account they already have and trust. It is for those who are not familiar with Bitcoin, to build up that trust.
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“We allow people to fund anyone on a social network and send them Bitcoin. As an example The Rock is on Twitter. I can send The Rock Bitcoin even if he doesn’t have an account. I can send him 100 Satochi, which is a denomination of Bitcoin. If he logs in he can see it is from me and collect that Bitcoin.
“We have tried to streamline it and make it like a chat message.”
Block Matrix has raised $2m (£1.64m) from private 海角视频 investors to develop the company further.
The cash has already allowed the company to expand its team from five members of staff to eight, with the remainder of the money going to develop the firm’s products over the next year.
As well as developing an app to go with the platform, Block Matrix will also be working on creating a merchant services platform so that retailers and businesses can receive payments through the system.
“Our first product is consumer focused,” said Mr Cheyne. “We want to have the biggest group of liquid Bitcoin users in the world.
“What we want to do is create developer tooling and a merchant service layer to allow other apps and companies to tap into that user base.”
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Block Matrix is planning to grow over the next year before attempting to raise more money through venture capital funding in the future.
During the next year the company is planning to increase its number of users from 11,000 to 100,000, but Mr Cheyne has set a long term target of attracting one billion users.