Bitcoin exchange Bitstamp’s ongoing funding campaign has already netted more than $1.3m in capital, exceeding its goal weeks before the effort is scheduled to end.
Bitstamp has another 21 days of its campaign on the BnkToTheFuture platform. The exchange is selling shares totalling 2% of total equity.
At press time, Bitstamp had raised $1,365,240 out of a planned $1.2m, drawing from 258 backers.
Co-founder and CEO Nejc Kodrič said the funding will go towards expanding into new markets, as well as offering new services to the existing trading platform.
He told CoinDesk:
“Our successful BnkToTheFuture campaign will enable us to focus more of our attention on new, unexplored markets and to implement some exciting new features (like new trading pairs, for example) and functionality to our site. We will continue to put our users first and make sure that our platform offers advanced solutions in a user-friendly manner.”
The move comes months after Bitstamp obtained a Payment Institution License from Luxembourg in mid-2016, which opened the door to new markets across Europe and, at the time, signaled a more positive regulatory environment for bitcoin startups in the region.
The funding success is a far cry from two years ago, when Bitstamp revealed that it had lost $5m in a phishing attack.
Bitstamp is the seventh-largest exchange by 30-day trading volume, according to data provider Bitcoinity.
Kodrič said that the funding success validates the exchange’s approach and puts it on a path to continued growth.
“We are extremely grateful for the success of our BnkToTheFuture campaign and remain thankful to every investor or client, whether it be new or old, for believing in Bitstamp and seeing our potential,” he said.
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