Bitcoin Reserve Completely Revamped, Officially Renamed to ‘Uphold’

Bitreserve has announced today that it has made major changes to its platform and has relaunched it under a new name — Uphold.

The bitcoin startup, founded last year by CNET founder Halsey Minor, is now led by former Nike CIO Anthony Watson as CEO.

As part of the rebrand, the company will allow users to use bitcoin, as well as bank accounts and credit cards.

Users in 33 countries across Europe will have access to the bank account deposit option, while the service is expected to be launched in the US, China, and India in the coming weeks.

The company’s revamp includes a new logo and a rebranding of its open API. Uphold also plans to release a series of physical and digital payment cards that rely on user accounts.

A shift in focus away from Bitcoin?

In an interview with CoinDesk, Watson denied that the company would shift its focus away from bitcoin, although he expressed criticism of the digital currency, including pointing out the current speculation problem in the market and the weakness of the concentration of digital currency holdings.

“We had a lot of members asking us to open up the platform, not just to cryptocurrencies, but to all kinds of currencies and commodities. So as of October 14, we launched Uphold, which removed the reliance on Bitcoin for our members.”

Watson said the company remains committed to cryptocurrencies and said Uphold is looking to add cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin.

Fee-based services

The company has also redesigned its membership and fee structure. It is reported that Uphold will not charge fees for Bitcoin deposits or bank transfers, but users will be charged a 2.75% fee if they use a credit or debit card.

Verified users can conduct member-to-member transactions and currency conversions for free, while precious metal transactions require some fees. In addition, users who withdraw more than 60 BTC, or 8,000 pounds (10,500 euros), will incur a 0.5% fee per year.

Uphold said it is cutting withdrawal fees for charities, nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Credit and debit card deposits will still incur a 2.75% fee.

In a new blog post, Watson said:

“In summary, Uphold embodies our core values ​​and is the best way we can describe our bold vision of providing accessible, fair, free, and equitable financial services to anyone, anywhere .”

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Original article: http://www.coindesk.com/bitreserve-overhauls-platform-rebrands-as-uphold/
By Stan Higgins
Compiled by: Satuoxi
Editor: Satuoxi
Source (translation): Babbitt Information