New York’s Crypto Firm NYDIG Acquires UK’s Bitcoin Micropayment Firm Bottlepay for $300M
Nicholas Otieno Nov 02, 2021 09:10
NYDIG announced that it has acquired UK’s Bitcoin micropayment firm Bottlepay to push more deeply into the Bitcoin market for customers in Europe and the UK.
New York-based crypto company NYDIG (New York digital investment group) has acquired U.K. based micropayment service firm Bottlepay for an estimated amount of funds between $280 million and $300 million.
Founded in 2019, the British-based Bottlepay is a maker of global, real-time payment applications powered by the Lightning Network. Users can make micropayments of as little as a dollar in Bitcoin or other currencies, such as euros and pounds, instantly without transaction fees. Bottlepay app is available throughout Europe, and the U.K. and users send money as messages via some of the world’s largest social networks like Twitter, Reddit, and Discord.
Therefore, the acquisition will enable NYDIG to integrate Bottlepay’s Lightning Network infrastructure into its existing full-stack Bitcoin platform to facilitate more efficient and faster payments.
Bottlepay founder Pete Cheyne talked about the development and highlighted why NYDIG acquired Bottlepay.
“When we set out to build Bottlepay, we wanted to unlock the financial infrastructure of the future. We’re excited to be joining an industry leader like NYDIG who shares our vision for the future of money,”
Meanwhile, Robert Gutmann, co-founder and CEO of NYDIG, also talked about the regulatory credibility that the Bottlepay service built through its business service delivery.
“The Bottlepay team has built world-class infrastructure for Lightning and bitcoin payments, and they have done so with the same level of regulatory and compliance rigour that our customers expect from NYDIG today. NYDIG is on a mission to bring bitcoin to all, and this acquisition brings us one step closer to fulfilling that goal,” Gutmann said.
In February, NYDIG participated in Bottlepay’s $15.4 million seed funding round, a raise led by British billionaire investor Alan Howard and enabled the firm to get a valuation of $50 million in excess.
NYDIG Expanding Crypto Services
The Bottlepay’s acquisition comes amidst NYDIG continued accelerating its business expansion and franchises.
In April, NYDIG acquired Arctos Capital, a technology-driven commercial lender that provides financing solutions to Bitcoin holders, investors, and mining businesses.
In January, NYDIG acquired Digital Assets Data, a major data, research, and analytics firm building enterprise-grade software and data feeds. The acquisition added to NYDIG’s best-in-class platform for banks, hedge funds, high-net-worth investors, and institutions looking to unlock the full potential of Bitcoin as an asset class.
As recently reported by Blockchain.News in May, NYDIG partnered with fintech giant Fidelity National Information Services to enable U.S. banks to offer Bitcoin services to their customers in coming months. Banks which recently only announced plans to allow wealth management clients to be able to access the cryptocurrency, have now indicated their willingness to provide Bitcoin services to even retail customers.
Image source: Shutterstock