BitPay Collaborates with Leading Dutch Companies to Grow Bitcoin Adoption in Europe
BitPay, a leading bitcoin payment processor and merchant solutions provider, has been collaborating with several Bitcoin startups and technology corporations in the Netherlands to raise Bitcoin adoption across Europe.
In early 2015, BitPay observed an explosive growth in the number of transactions and payments in Europe. The BitPay team told BTCMANAGER that as of June 2015, 55% of the transactions BitPay processed were originating from the region.
Since then, the Amsterdam-based Bitcoin firm actively started to host meetups and conferences on Bitcoin and the blockchain technology for other startups in the industry, to raise Bitcoin awareness and adoption in European countries including the Netherlands.
The BitPay team also partnered with Dutch ecommerce leaders like food delivery service Thuisbezor.nl and home goods store Fonq.nl to offer the Dutch population a simplied method of transacting using bitcoin. Specifically, Fonq.nl is one of the largest department stores/retailers in Europe, which recorded over US$650 million in annual revenue.
“Fonq.nl is contemporary online department store with more than 50,000 colorful and special products that make life just a little more fun,” says the Fonq.nl team.
More importantly, BitPay has also worked with Adyen, a bitcoin-accepting payment platform which generates over US$350 million in annual revenue and processes payments for multi-billion dollar tech corporations such as Uber, Spotify, and Facebook.
Based on the fast-paced growth of the Bitcoin industry in the Netherlands, BitPay firmly believes that the country could become a leading nation in Europe for fintech, bitcoin, and blockchain-focused companies in the future. The number of Bitcoin users has also increased significantly since 2015, after the rapid surge in the rate of smartphone adoption.
“The rapid adoption of 4G and the high availability of WiFi … We can now offer a much richer experience on smartphones than in the past. This is necessary, because smartphones are becoming an extension of thoughts and therefore the start of purchasing behavior. The battle among retailers is now being fought on mobile,” said Fonq CEO Patrick Kerssemakers. He further emphasized that over 30% of their traffic derives from smartphones.
Considering the rapidly growing Bitcoin industry of the Netherlands and an increase in the adoption of smartphones, BitPay predicts the Netherlands to be in the center of mainstream Bitcoin growth in Europe.
“The Netherlands has the opportunity to become a leading nation in Europe for fintech companies using bitcoin and the bitcoin blockchain to innovate in payments and banking,” BitPay EMEA General Manager Marcel Roelants told BTCMANAGER.
“We use the Netherlands and our European HQ in Amsterdam as our hub for building out our services as close to our European customers as possible,” he added.
Over the past few months, the BitPay team has collaborated with local Bitcoin and fintech organizations to lead events and conferences designed for startups, to help entrepreneurs and businesses to obtain a better understanding of the digital currency and benefits of using Bitcoin.
“We’ve partnered with Holland Fintech to host meetups on bitcoin and blockchain technology for other startups in the Dutch fintech community,” BitPay Marketing Associate James Warpole told BTCMANAGER.
In the upcoming months, BitPay will continue its efforts to increase the adoption and awareness of Bitcoin in Europe, from its headquarters in the Netherlands and global online presence.
