Meet Three Up-and-Coming Chinese Bitcoin Startups With Global Ambitions

The video interviews in this article were recorded as part of CoinDesk's coverage of the Global Bitcoin Summit in Beijing, which took place 10th-11th May 2014.

China's bitcoin exchanges and mining equipment manufacturers usually grab the headlines in that part of the world. However, there are several startups breaking new ground in different parts of the digital currency ecosystem, and their focus is often on international markets as as much as China.

We spoke to three such companies at the recent Global Bitcoin Summit to find out about their ideas and how they plan to change the bitcoin landscape.

Jack Wang, Bitfoo/Bifubao

Bitfoo is the international name of secure wallet service Bifubao, which gained attention back in March as one of the first online bitcoin wallets to announce a cryptographic proof-of-reserves function. This allows users to verify that the company actually holds all bitcoins it claims to, while also keeping coins off-block chain.

Bitfoo's service also allows the creation of vanity addresses and the sending and receiving of bitcoins via email addresses.

Wang's background as a Chinese-American and former Silicon Valley lawyer gives him a perspective from both sides of the Pacific, and insights into market conditions in each country.

Liang Qiu and Wei Lu, Peatio

Peatio

has developed open-source bitcoin exchange software that anyone in the world can tailor and develop to their own needs – all via an API that allows trading in any currency or language.

The two developers, Qiu and Lu, said Peatio was funded by Bitfund.pe, a bitcoin private investment company owned by China's largest bitcoin holder (and Beijing summit president) Li Xiaolai.

Lu said the project, which lives on GitHub, already has over 200 starts and more than 50 forks.

Liang Qiu's answers are in Chinese, translations by Wei Lu.

Hanson Hong, BitOcean

BitOcean

is developing a new bitcoin ATM in partnership with Chinese exchange OKCoin, and already has a number of orders from around the world.

Its demonstration machines were one of the most popular items at the summit, with users able to feed in Chinese yuan and purchase bitcoins on the spot.

Hong, BitOcean's co-founder and CMO, said the machines can be two-way, allowing users to both buy and sell, and that BitOcean is working on implementing financial compliance measures for different jurisdictions. He said bitcoin remained legal to hold and use in China, though further clarification was still needed.

Special thanks to Rui Ma of 500 Startups, and Jian Li and Ruiyang Wang of btcmini.com for their assistance in the shooting of these videos.