Israeli blockchain – 11 selected startups Bits of Gold Bitrated Founded: 2013 Founded: 2014 Management: CEO Gil Assayag Management: Founder Nadav Ivgi Employees: 1-10 Employees: 1-10 Company type: Private Company type: Private Funding stage: Seed Funding stage: Pre-seed Sub-space: Buy and sell Sub-space: Security Website: www.bitsofgold.co.il Website: www.bitrated.com Bits of Gold specializes in bitcoin services to the Israeli market. The company Bitrated provides fraud prevention and consumer protection mechanisms for operates over 150 branches throughout the country where people can buy bitcoin transactions. The company builds a layer of trust on top of bitcoin, or sell bitcoins, many of which have bitcoin ATMs. By forming a partnership helping to protect consumers, and allowing merchants to build their with the Global Money Transfer (GMT), Bits of Gold can ensure its reputation. Bitrated serves as a reputation management system. Every user compliance with anti-money-laundering regulations within Israel. receives a score based upon ratings that were given by other users and based upon other social networks. This allows buyers and sellers to evaluate Besides offering a service for citizens to exchange cash for bitcoins, Bits of their counterpart and decide whether or not they want to do business with Gold also targets merchants who are looking to accept bitcoin as a payment them. option. Their “Checkout with bitcoin” service allows businesses to accept bitcoins from customers while maintaining their record books in Israeli Additionally, prior to Bitrated if a consumer used bitcoins to purchase an Shekels. This service is offered to physical stores as well as online stores with item and never received that item they would be left with very few options headquarters in Israel. Following its launch in Israel in 2013, the company is to recuperate their loses. Bitrated adds another level of security by currently planning to expand to other markets in South America and the introducing a “trust agent” to all bitcoin transactions. These intermediary Middle East. officials can resolve disputes and reverse payments if fraud is detected. Users can apply to serve as these arbitrators and receive compensation for “Israelis are early-adopters and many have begun their services. to see the potential of Bitcoin technology.” Jonathan Rouach, Director Bits of Gold Crypto Next Backfeed Founded: June 18, 2014 Founded: 2015 Management: CEO Sharon Greenberg, CTO Asaf Azulay Management: CEO MatanField Employees: 1-10 Employees: 11-50 Company type: Private Company type: Private Funding stage: Seed Funding stage: Series A Sub-space: New currency Sub-space: Social Website: www.cryptonext.net/ Website: http://backfeed.cc At the Inside Bitcoin Conference in Tel Aviv in 2014, Crypto Next announced its Backfeed provides an opportunity for people to coordinate, collaborate, and new product, the “White Label Exchange” which gives its customers the ability create decentralized organizations. CEO Matan Field describes Backfeed to set up their own currency exchange in a matter of hours. Users who are technologies as “similar to an Israeli kibbutz where members split the profits eager to create their own, customized cryptocurrency will be able to construct based on the contribution, each one makes as perceived by their network in a platform that is tailored to their own personal desires, or the needs of their real-time.” Backfeed will target a wide range of organizations who can reap community or organization. CEO Sharon Greenberg said that “setting up a benefits of decentralization including taxi services, social networks, insurance White Label Exchange will be as easy as registering a domain name.” Crypto companies, and school systems. Using schools as an example, if a teacher is Next’s management team hopes that digital currencies such as bitcoin will excellent and the students’ parents would like to reward her, they would become more mainstream through the creation of more user friendly have the power to increase her salary. In a decentralized organization, your exchanges. Improved service will lead to higher demand for the product, and contribution and your reward would be determined by your shared higher demand will encourage more merchants to accept the digital currencies, community instead of a single person or governmental organization. completing the cycle of buying and selling. Although the platform is currently in development, the founders predict it In 2015 Crypto Next created a new service which allowed users to pair and will launch sometime in 2016. exchange any cryptocurrency with any other cryptocurrency or fiat currency. Previously, exchanges were only interested in high volume trades, so relatively niche currencies were not able to be exchanged. The company has stated that its goal is to have at least 50 different currencies available for exchange by the end of the year. 19