Technology

Bitcoin start-up Unocoin’s API to boost Indian cryptocurrency market

Unocoin, a company from India, on Monday announced that it has implemented its first-ever application programming interface (API) allowing from around the world to access the world’s largest potential market for and to take advantage of Unocoin’s set of features.

Unocoin’s API allows individuals and in India to generate wallets; buy, sell, send and receive bitcoin; securely store bitcoin; retrieve real-time or historical price information; receive notifications when payments arrive; accept and request payments for merchants; as well as allow around the world to remit to India and to submit know your customer details of beneficiaries.

co-founder and CEO Sathvik Vishwanath said, “We’ve been excited to develop a robust API for use by around the world. Our API is best described as an on-ramp for firms looking for a simple way to gain entry into one of the world’s fastest growing and largest potential markets. Our team has been working non-stop prior to and during our Pre-Series A round to provide the most reliable, full-featured API, but one that, most importantly, is incredibly easy to adopt.”

recently raised $1.5 million to support its growth. The company now has more than 30 employees on staff servicing over 100,000 users. The API has concluded rigorous testing and is already in active use by its largest customer, which is itself, said the company in a press release.

The company’s full-featured iOS app and soon-to-be-released Android app are both built entirely off of the API. Moreover, the API has become instrumental in the day-to-day functionality of businesses like Paycase, a Canadian remittance innovator making overseas transactions much faster and more cost efficient.

“Our API is the engine powering our mobile apps, through which customers will be able to store and spend on the go, and also be able to buy with just a click of a button,” said Vishwanath.

India is the remittance capital of the world, as well as the largest gold and IT market. While blockchain and adoption climbs exponentially, businesses and individuals need the appropriate financial infrastructure to process secure transactions. The API can plug right into any company, anywhere in the world, to assist them in gaining access to the Indian  market and remittance industry, potentially worth an estimated $100 billion.

Blockstream, pioneers in cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin, which developed sidechains to help users move digital assets from one blockchain to another, partnered with to enable fast and low cost cross-border transactions. Paycase, a mobile-first remittance application, is now using the API and Blockstream’s Liquid network to carry out friction less money transfers from Canada to India.

“India represents a massive growth opportunity for and is on the cutting edge of and blockchain technology,” said Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, adding, “We’re excited to be working with on Liquid and believe the company has the potential to bring to millions of new users based on their technology vision and business execution.”

Paycase’s protocol-agnostic transfer routing system has already been tested in nearly 20 countries around the world, using a sophisticated trading algorithm to route payments over a variety of cryptocurrency rails with far greater efficiency as compared to the traditional SWIFT network. During a six-month beta, successfully completed $50,000 worth of micro-transactions from Canada to the Philippines, with costs averaging 60-80 per cent lower than traditional remittance players.

Unocoin’s Pre Series A round was led by Blume Ventures with participation from Digital Currency Group, Boost VC, Bank to the Future, Capital, FundersClub, and Indian investors Mumbai Angels and ah! Ventures.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/bitcoin-start-up-unocoin-s-api-to-boost-indian-cryptocurrency-market-116110700575_1.html