Six years ago, a real place of sharing around Bitcoin opened its doors in the heart of Paris. This unique concept, launched by Eric Larchevêque and Thomas France, was rebranded in 2018 and accelerated its development and digital transition. Let’s take a look back at Coinhouse’s past, but above all at its future ambitions.
A must-see place for the crypto community
Opened in 2014, "La Maison du Bitcoin" has quickly become a must-see venue for the crypto community, in part thanks to the many meetups and introductory sessions organized until 2019. Emblematic figures of the ecosystem such as Andreas Antonopoulos or Arthur Breitman have been there.
"Several projects emerged from this space, including Ledger, Coinhouse, Acinq, Stratumn and Scorechain" remembers Marc Zeller, founding member of Asseth, now known as Ethereum France.
From the very beginning, the services of buying and selling Bitcoin against Euros and other cryptocurrencies, also called digital assets, offered at La Maison du Bitcoin have been offered on our website.
The first major changes took place at the end of 2017 when, following a complete overhaul of the brand’s identity, Coinhouse took over from La Maison du Bitcoin, became an independent company from Ledger and completed its first fundraising campaign. At the head of the team was Nicolas Louvet, an atypical entrepreneur with a past as a "Venture Capitalist", specialising in the development of tech startups and business strategy.
"I wanted someone I could trust to take full control of this project and make it a reference player in the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies, while developing a range of new services," says Eric Larchevêque, serial entrepreneur, investor and founder of La Maison du Bitcoin and Ledger.
Since then, Coinhouse has largely innovated and completed the initial offer, which consisted of the purchase and sale of Bitcoin via its physical store and website, and has been able to address the major issues of regulation of activities involving cryptocurrencies.
The shift to digital
Under the impulse of Nicolas Louvet, everything accelerates. Three major changes are initiated:
- A real system for storing cryptocurrencies is set up, allowing all clients to keep their digital assets in their Coinhouse account in complete security without having to worry about the complex management of Wallets.
- A Compliance Department is created, making Coinhouse the only provider of services on digital assets (PSAN) to date to be registered by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), with the approval of ACPR. "Coinhouse has been working for many years to professionalise the French crypto industry. It is an active and founding member of the ADAN association, which I chair and which aims to structure and represent the industry", explains Simon Polrot, President of the Association for the Development of Digital Assets.
- A Premium service has been launched: it allows individuals and companies to benefit from remote and physical support to understand, invest, secure and use their digital assets according to their profiles. A unique service in Europe, which has seen a tenfold increase in the number of customers in the last year!
The original experience has been extended and widely developed in terms of both digital and services. The company grows in size and recruits nearly 40 people in France in 3 years. It is also gaining in maturity and working on its image as a serious player, meeting the challenges of investor protection.
The future of Coinhouse: the first crypto bank with enhanced online services and a European customer base
Faced with a growing demand for online services and the success of the Premium offer, Coinhouse is turning a page in its history in 2020 and is leaving its historic location at 35 rue du Caire. The teams move to larger and more suitable premises in the heart of Paris, exclusively open to its Premium clients.
But Coinhouse has not changed its commitment to support every investor, whether beginner or experienced. Anyone can open a free account on www.coinhouse.com. Our platform is easy to use and allows you to buy, sell and keep the main cryptocurrencies (BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP, BCH). Its dedicated and reactive French customer service can be reached by phone and email, a service that is not found in any competitor.
It takes less than 10 minutes to create a free account on Coinhouse and start diversifying your investments with cryptocurrencies. Coinhouse allows you to withdraw most cryptocurrencies. However, there is no need to set up an external portfolio, which is often restrictive in its use and presents a risk of losing funds if mishandled. Coinhouse manages the security of your digital asset accounts in the manner of a crypto bank.
Coinhouse’s future is clearly oriented towards innovation: "We have the tools to differentiate ourselves from the competition by offering exclusive services on our platform, particularly with decision-support content for individual clients, but also investment products under management mandate that offer particularly innovative and interesting investment alternatives. We are going to add many additional services related to crypto and start our development with a European audience, particularly in the Benelux countries and Germany", Nicolas Louvet added.
With its official PSAN status, Coinhouse is the obvious choice for European clients who want to invest with a reputable player that can provide security, innovative investment strategies and proximity in an environment where some players are unclear about their licences or authorisations.
Major changes planned in the coming months will make it easier and faster for investors to carry out their transactions. Services such as staking on the Tezos protocol will open up new ways to generate profit on these digital assets.
Coinhouse aims to become, within two years, the leading European crypto-bank: a key player offering a complete range of services related to cryptocurrencies, from the impeccable security of digital assets to investment services, asset management and investment advice.
Always at the forefront of what the ecosystem has to offer, payment services will complement Coinhouse’s offering in the future. The ambition is clear: to establish itself as the benchmark and trusted player specialising in digital assets in Europe.
