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The Dasset digital asset exchange has announced a strategic partnership with Bittrex to service the Oceania region

Dasset, a New Zealand based digital asset exchange, has announced a strategic partnership with the U.S. based Bittrex exchange. The new partnership will give Dasset users access to deeper liquidity and an increased number of digital assets for trading.

Founded in 2017 by Stephen Macaskill and Fran Stranjnar, the Dasset digital asset exchange is based in Auckland. Dasset is registered in New Zealand as a Financial Services Provider and is supervised by the Department of Internal Affairs.

The impetus for the initial set-up of Dasset came from the realization that there was a gap in the local crypto market, explained co-founder and CEO, Stephen Macaskill. “When we looked at the New Zealand market four years ago, there was a 20% premium over the global spot prices of crypto assets in New Zealand due to a lack of liquidity, and a lack of local exchanges,” he said. “Since that time, the launch of Dasset has helped improve that situation, so the spread has dropped by around 80%. That means that compared to global spot prices, New Zealanders can now access rates that are within 1-3% of those prices.”

Dasset provides the ability for New Zealanders to buy, sell, and trade over thirty different crypto assets with New Zealand dollars. Macaskill says “We provide the on-ramps and off-ramps between the legacy financial system and the digital asset financial system.”

Australian users can trade on the Dasset platform, however, they are restricted to crypto deposits and withdrawals only at present. Macaskill says the platform is working on adding fiat currency on-ramps for Australian users and he expects to make an announcement on that soon. Dasset is currently undertaking a series A fundraising round and will move to a customer growth phase next.

While Dasset is aimed at both retail and institutional traders, Macaskill says New Zealand retail crypto buyers now have a number of options in the local market. “We are the only trading platform in New Zealand with advanced order options,” he explained. “However, there are a number of other providers, brokers, and retailers who make it easy for retail users to buy digital assets. These providers need to tap into a liquidity platform or orderbook to serve their users, and that’s a service that we provide. So while we have retail customers, we are also a liquidity provider to other crypto businesses and institutions here in New Zealand.”

The Bittrex partnership follows a recent security and technology upgrade that allowed Dasset to bring its technology infrastructure in-house through a strategic partnership with Blockchain Labs NZ. Dasset co-founder and CEO Stephen Macaskill says these partnerships have increased Dasset’s ability to provide digital asset trading services to customers throughout New Zealand and Australia.

“We are excited to establish a partnership with Bittrex – one of the most trusted and liquid digital asset exchanges in the world. With this partnership, Dasset and Bittrex can bring international standards to the Oceania region in terms of pricing, fees , and selection,” he said. “Dasset’s vision is to support a sound financial system by empowering individuals with access, choice, and sovereignty over their wealth – and with Bittrex’s commitment, we are now one step closer to fulfilling this.” 

Traditionally, Australasian investors have had difficulty accessing digital assets, due to the high fees and low liquidity amongst the relatively small number of existing exchanges.

“New Zealand has some of the lowest adoption rates for digital assets in the world,” explained Macaskill. “In Australia, something like 3-5% of the population owns digital assets, while in New Zealand it is around 1% or less. New Zealand’s banking system was modernized in the late 90s, so it leapfrogged some of the problems that U.S. banks face today and it has a relatively advanced banking system. For example, no one in New Zealand uses cheque books, whereas in the U.S. paying rent with cheques is still very common. So that’s one reason why crypto has been slightly slower to take off in NZ, and another is that it is a stable country politically, when compared to other parts of the world right now.”

Bittrex, Inc. is a U.S. blockchain technology provider and digital assets exchange based in Seattle. It trades around US$30 million dollars in trading volume every day. Co-Founder Richie Lai says one of the goals of Bittrex is to advance the global blockchain industry by fostering innovation and incubating new and emerging technology.

“We work with teams around the world to implement Bittrex technology with the goal of continuing to educate customers and partners about the potential of blockchain technology,” said Lai. “Our partnership with Dasset will further enable customers from the Oceania region to leverage deep liquidity at competitive prices across various digital assets, powered by the technology of Bittrex." 

Disclosure: Techemy, the parent company of Brave New Coin is an investor in Dasset.


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