Bitcoin Group SE Reported A First-Half Net Profit Increase Of More Than 300%
This past Friday, a German cryptocurrency exchange called Bitcoin Group SE reported a first-half net profit increase of more than 300 percent to €3.32 million ($3.85 million). Also, the firm added 86,000 new accounts of people buying and selling cryptocurrency like bitcoin and bitcoin cash in the first six months of 2018.
On Friday (September 28th), Bitcoin Group SE reported its net profit went up 306 percent to $3.85 million in the first half of the year as more people bought and sold cryptocurrency through the German digital currency exchange. Just a year ago, the firm’s profit was at $0.95 million. Additionally, Bitcoin Group SE noted that for the first six months of this year sales revenue went up to $6.57 million from $2.1 million in the comparable period a year back. Operating profit climbed 368 percent to $5.64 million.
Bitcoin Group SE is Germany’s only regulated digital currency exchange. The exchange said around $707.6 million worth of bitcoin was traded on the platform at the end of last year when the price of BTC peaked at $20,000. However, volume “flattened out…due to profit taking”, the firm stated, and also because of the free-fall in the price of bitcoin during the review period. Bitcoin plummeted about 52 percent during the first half of this year, dropping from $12,968 on January 1st to $6,251 by the end of June.
Bitcoin’s astronomical rise at the end of 2017, coupled with increased mainstream media headlines, has brought public attention to a currency that’s predominantly transacted on smartphones, laptops or desktop computers. In addition to that, Bitcoin Group SE added that it added 14,300 new users on its platform every month, bringing a total of 86,000 new accounts for the half-year. The exchange stated that around 753,000 investors are now actively using the exchange to buy and sell crypto. Marco Bodewein, the managing director at Bitcoin Group SE mentioned: “Despite a stronger correction of the exchange rates, it is evident that many customers find confidence in cryptocurrencies and perceive them as an equivalent alternative to paper currencies.”
Digital currency exchanges are looking for growth in new areas or to consolidate existing positions to help boost revenue and minimize risk from an uncertain regulatory environment in their home economies. Bitcoin Group SE, which has $40.24 million in current assets, expressed doubt of meeting its one million customer-base targets by year-end on account of the existing bearish trading in the crypto markets. Nonetheless, back in January, the exchange bought a 50 percent stake in Sineus Financial Services Gmbh, to diversify risk, subject to regulatory approval. Finally, Bitcoin Group SE noted, “In the future, this will enable the group to offer additional financial services in the cryptocurrency sector.”
