A host of technical problems marred yesterday’s opening of Coinfloor, a new, London-based Bitcoin (BTC) trading platform.
End-users who were hoping to find state-of-the-art flash trading tools to ride the Bitcoin lightening found that registering for an account was impossible thanks to overwhelming demand.
The rush to register with Coinfloor is fueled both by speculative fever surrounding Bitcoin, as well as the company’s staunch anti-money laundering position. Coinfloor is setting itself up as a transparent Bitcoin trading floor that’s compliant with UK and EU financial regulations.
Though regulatory compliance is a value-add for customer Bitcoin transactions are not currently subject to UK financial rules and guidelines. After all, no government in the world has formally recognized the radical digital currency.
In a recent interview with Wired.com, Coinfloor co-founder and CEO Mark Lamb explained why he would welcome a regulatory framework for Bitcoin trading and will be staying compliant until it’s ready:
…we pride ourselves on our compliance even in the absence of regulatory guidance, and look forward to a point in the future when the HMRC and FCA may choose to regulate Bitcoin as a currency as we would be ready and confident about our immediate compliance. We believe that the creation of a formal regulatory regime for Bitcoin businesses…would benefit the UK economy and in particular the fintech sector.
Coinfloor is just one of several Bitcoin exchanges that have opened recently to serve high speed currency traders.
(As of this writing, Coinfloor accounts are only available to UK and European-based traders.)