Cryptocurrency trader Bitcoin says it is set to resume retail trading after raising finance

An under-pressure cryptocurrency trading platform says it has secured financing and is aiming to resume retail trading later this week.

BitPrime paused its operations last week, blaming what it calls a perfect storm of a fall in business, rising costs and volatile markets.

But its chief executive Ross Carter-Brown said it now had hundreds of thousand of dollars in finance from people in the crypto community and even from competitors.

The company was also ready for over-the counter trading, but was waiting to get its ducks in a row first and would re-launch its retail trade first, he said.

“[We’re] wanting to make sure that we have adequate capitalisation in place so that we can ensure that we don’t end up in the same situation again weeks down the track. That applies too to our consumer segment.

“We’ve just got to make a few technical changes there but it’s almost ready to go so the plan is to go live later this week.”

Carter-Brown said he did not have an exact time or date for the resumption of trade.

BitPrime also was not saying exactly how much it had raised or which competitors came to the rescue.

In the meantime, the company has announced a new “BitPrime Supporter Initiative” to allow the cryptocurrency community to support the company and take a role in its governance.

The support will be divided into donation tiers, with rewards depending on the level of financial contribution, Carter-Brown said.

“It’s an avenue for a lot of the expression of support that we’ve received from our customers, the wider cryptocurrency community.

“They can contribute either services in kind or donate some crypto or things like that, in exchange for a range of rewards.”