Bitcoin Financial Services Provider Magnr Announces New CEO And Blockchain Based Project ‘Kodo’

Magnr was initially launched by Joseph Lee under the name BTC.sx, and was a Forex style platform. It was one of the first leveraged trading platforms for Bitcoin, and the business has now brokered over $80 million in trades.

Colin Kwan replaces Lee, who will assume the role of Chief Innovation Officer. Kwan’s MBA , investment banking experience as a Vice President, and also his time at Magnr as Chief Operating Officer will be applied to the new position. He intends to steer the company towards becoming the leading provider of digital financial services.

“After discovering Bitcoin in 2012, I immediately saw how the technology could revolutionise the world of finance. Before long, I left the day job to contribute to the FinTech revolution.”
— – Kwan

Project Kodo is a new venture targeting the inefficient back-office processes found in trading financial assets. “During my tenure at Deutsche Bank and UBS, the levels of inefficiency never failed to amaze me,” said newly appointed Magnr CEO, Colin Kwan.

“By developing Project Kodo the Magnr team plan on providing levels of efficiency that were once thought to be impossible.”
— – Kwan

Magnr also provides a Bitcoin a savings account, which allows users to earn up to 1.8 percent interest on a maximum of 10BTC. The service leverages the transparency of Bitcoin’s blockchain, where users can see how much is in their savings account, and uses that data to calculate the interest.

To fund these initiatives, venture capital firms are being approached to raise US$10m during a Series-A round.

Project Kodo is being developed in London’s FinTech city, which is located by the Old Street ‘silicon roundabout.’ The UK Government has been proactively supporting FinTech innovation, as it attempts to solidify the London’s position as a FinTech Capital.

Everledger is London based, and focused on entering information on the blockchain for tracking luxury products, with an initial focus on diamonds. “We are a fraud detection system, overlaying big data from closed sources like insurers and law enforcement.”

Elliptic also made the news recently, after acquiring accreditation from Big-4 audit firm KPMG, an industry first. The insured bitcoin custodians then announced The Bitcoin Big Bang, which allows users to track bitcoin transfers.

“The Bitcoin Big Bang visualises the flows of bitcoin across real world entities.”
— – Elliptic

Banking giants UBS and Barclays have also been taking advantage of the inviting London environment, both have labs exploring blockchain technology in the city.

“Ultimately our ambition is to help shape a more open and collaborative financial services industry and to jointly develop new solutions for our clients.”
— – Oliver Bussmann, UBS Group CIO