Banks sign contracts with Bitcoin companies? Barclays took the bait

British banking giant Barclays has signed contracts with eight graduates of New York-based fintech incubator TechStars, two of which will use blockchain technology.

Eleven startups co-incubated by TechStars completed the 13-week course program, including bitcoin compliance company Chainalysis and accounting startup Wave.

In an interview with the New York Business Journal, Derek White, chief design and innovation officer at Barclays, called the partnership with Chainalysis and Wave a “game changer” for the bank.

Barclays said it would work with Chainalysis to allow its financial crime and transaction monitoring team to obtain necessary information on transactions with bitcoin companies.

Chainalysis co-founder Jonathan Levin believes this will make Barclays one of the first mainstream financial institutions to provide services to Bitcoin companies, many of which currently find it difficult to obtain basic banking services.

Levin told CoinDesk:

“This is the first time a top-tier bank has integrated a compliance solution that will allow them to provide banking services to Bitcoin and blockchain companies.”

As part of the initiative, Barclays will provide non-financial support to the two startups, while startup incubator TechStars will take a 6% equity stake in each company.

It is reported that Barclays Bank has also cooperated with Bitcoin service provider Safello to help charities accept Bitcoin payments.

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Original article: http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-firm-inks-compliance-deal-with-banking-giant-barclays/
By Pete Rizzo
Compiled by: Satuoxi
Editor: Satuoxi
Source (translation): Babbitt Information