Bitcoin has been in the spotlight for several months now for various reasons. The digital currency created by the mysterious and pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto has achieved a remarkable rise in 2020 amid the COVID pandemic, Brexit, and much more. Since then, Bitcoin has been on the headlines every day and pushing up the prices of other cryptocurrencies at the same time.

In a recent development in the cryptocurrency industry, Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX announced that his company Tesla invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin and intends to start accepting the currency as payment.

According to the companys filing, In January 2021, we updated our investment policy to provide us with more flexibility to further diversify and maximise returns on our cash that is not required to maintain adequate operating liquidity. As part of the policy, we may invest a portion of such cash in certain specified alternative reserve assets. Thereafter, we invested an aggregate of $1.50 billion in bitcoin under this policy. We expect to begin accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis, which we may or may not liquidate upon receipt.

Post the announcement, the Bitcoin price soared to an all-time high of $48,034 (15% jump). At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin stands at $46,943.

As a result of the announcement, many analysts have highlighted the extreme volatility of bitcoin, emphasising the fact that investors could be wiped out if the digital currency plunges in the future.

On the other hand, Musk has also made a series of tweets on the alternative cryptocurrency Dogecoin, leading to a rise in the cryptocurrencys value.

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Well, its not only Elon Musk and Tesla. Numerous companies and startups in the UK are focusing on cryptocurrencies and Blockchains as this is the next big transformation in the fintech industry. Having said that, heres the list of 10 companies working on cryptocurrencies in the UK you should know.

Founder/s: Evgeny Gaevoy, Harro Mantel, Yoann Turpin

Funding: 17.2M

Wintermute was founded in 2017 with the mission to provide the much-needed liquidity to the crypto markets, thus contributing to the adoption of new decentralised finance.

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Founder/s: Konstantin Zaripov, Sergey Romanovskiy

Funding: 4.5M

This London-based company bridges the gap between crypto and cash, providing people with instant crypto-backed cash services for everyday use. Nebeus offers a host of secure and compliant solutions allowing customers to borrow, earn, send, and receive cash and crypto with full security.

Founder/s: Gabriele Musella, Oleg Giberstein, Zdenek Hofler

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Funding: 941K

Coinrule is the smart assistant for cryptocurrency trading, allowing users to take full control of their trading while being able to fight back hedge funds and automated bots. As per the companys claims, it is simple and with no coding skills required.

Founder/s: Dan Hughes

Funding: 16.2M

Radix DLT, a London-based DeFi (decentralised finance) startup is building a decentralised finance protocol, which provides frictionless access, programmability, and liquidity to any asset in the world. The company aims to solve many of the pain points in todays centralised financial system.

Founder/s: Dmitry Lazarichev, Georgy Sokolov, Pavel Matveev

Funding: 5.7M

Based out of London, Wirex aims to make crypto and traditional currencies equal and accessible to everyone. The companys app and next-gen Wirex card let users buy, store, exchange, and spend a wide variety of conventional and digital currencies quickly and securely, with no hidden fees.

Founder/s: Mark Hipperson, Niall McConnell, Philip Goffin

Funding: 11.4M

Ziglu, the personal money app offers an account with traditional & digital currencies managed seamlessly in one app. The cryptocurrency platform gives everyone easy access to digital currencies including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, Litecoin, and XRP, with zero hidden fees or transaction charges.

Founder/s: Carel van Wyk, Marcus Swanepoel, Pieter Heyns, Timothy Stranex

Funding: 9.9M

Based out of London, Luno is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that lets users to buy, store and learn about cryptocurrencies. The company is on a mission to upgrade the world to a better financial system. Luno operates in 40 countries across Africa, South East Asia, and Europe and employs around 250 people.

Founder/s: Gerald Goldstein, Itamar Lesuisse, Julien Niset

Funding: 11.5M

Headquartered in London, Argent is an Ethereum wallet for iOS and Android. With this platform, users can earn interest and invest; borrow, store and send. The platform also lets users access DeFi and Dapps in a few taps.

Founder/s: Jason Fitzpatrick, Jeff Hancock, Keith Christie-Smith, Paul Tiley

Funding: NA

Coinpass is a UK-based cryptocurrency exchange platform, founded to solve the demand for fast, reliable, professional, and high-quality financial service products for crypto-to-fiat trading in the UK. The company aims to be the global leader in the digital finance space by striving to bridge the gap between traditional finance and digital assets.

Founder/s: Grant Blaisdell, Jakub Fijolek, Maciej Ziolkowski, Pawel Aleksander, Pawel Kuskowski

Funding: 11.5M

Based out of London, Coinfirm offers AML and regulatory technology for blockchain and cryptocurrencies. It offers the industrys largest blockchain coverage, supporting over 1,400 cryptocurrencies and protocols including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Hyperledger, and many more.

The companys solutions are used by market leaders globally, ranging from crypto exchanges such as Binance, and protocols like XRP, to major financial institutions like PKO BP.

Founder/s: Dmitry Tokarev, CEO

Funding: 6.7M

Copper is a London-based digital asset infrastructure provider. The company provides custody and prime brokerage services to more than 200 institutional clients, including traders, wealth companies, private banks, family offices and cryptocurrency funds.

Using proprietary technology including Copper ClearLoop and a Walled Garden Copper facilitates secure, instant and offline transaction settlements for 150+ digital assets, across more than 25 global exchanges.

Coppers fully integrated products are unique in the cryptoasset space. Underpinned by multi-award-winning custody, Copper has built the comprehensive and secure suite of tools and services required to safely acquire, trade, and store cryptocurrencies including access to margin lending trading facilities and the DeFi space.

The rest is here:

UK cryptocurrency startups coining the future of fintech in 2021 - UKTN (UK Technology News