Since 2014, Coinfinity has been a small part of the fascinating journey of Bitcoin and the associated community in German-speaking countries. Characterised by significant milestones, regular updates and steady growth, Bitcoin has repeatedly been declared dead by critics. And yet, after almost 15 years, Bitcoin is here to stay.
We at Coinfinity are also proud to still be here a decade later, and stronger than ever. 23 April 2024 marks a special milestone in our journey - Coinfinity's 10th anniversary.
A decade ago, our journey began in a small shop in Graz. Managing Director Max Tertinegg opened Austria's first "Bitcoin shop" together with co-founder Stefan Kliment. Equipped with a Bitcoin ATM and the offer to buy Bitcoin over the counter, the two-man small business launched into the then barely regulated, wild crypto west.
"Coinfinity gives Austria first Bitcoin ATM and a pioneering bonus", reads the headline of a Cointelegraph article from 3 July 2014. "We want to make Bitcoin more accessible and introduce interested parties to the topic in a simple and understandable way," explains Max Tertinegg in the article.
The local media are also gradually reporting on the new, mysterious Bitcoin business.
Author and writer Clemens J. Setz writes about his impressions in ZEIT ONLINE after a visit to Coinfinity in February 2015:
"When I entered the small Bitcoin shop on the corner that I had discovered a few days earlier in my district in Graz, I had a similar sensation: pleasant unreality. There are books on money and economic theory on a shelf, and a small cash machine that swallows euros and pays out bitcoins digitally is waiting in a corner.
I talk to Max and Stefan, the two business owners, who are both in their mid-thirties and have been running Coinfinity for about six months. There's a nightclub right opposite, and the small alley is also home to antique shops and hairdressers. The small Bitcoin shop has great charm, because it is an unexpected sight: in Graz of all places, the capital of Austria's senior citizens, which still draws on its avant-garde past. And bitcoins of all things, this supposedly "non-existent" internet money - now there is suddenly a real business premises that you can enter. It almost seems like a magic trick.
I ask if the shop is the only one in Austria. Yes, at the moment it is. What do the people who come in think bitcoins are? All sorts of things, says Max, there really is everything, every level of knowledge, every section of society, every age, every prejudice. There is a lot of interest overall. Some believe that the shop is a branch of the "official Bitcoin company", which of course is not the case."
Today, with a team of 30 employees, we are at a point where we can look back with pride at what we have achieved and at the same time look forward to the future with excitement.
Following the successful launch of Austria's first Bitcoin ATM and the first Austria-wide option to buy Bitcoin online immediately via our web portal, we looked for an easy way to offer Bitcoin throughout Austria.
In 2015, the time had come and we started selling the first Bitcoin vouchers, which are now available in over 4,000 tobacconists and petrol stations throughout Austria.
In 2017, our subsidiary Kurant was founded as a spin-off of Coinfinity in order to focus on the rapidly growing number of Bitcoin ATMs. Today, Kurant is the European market leader with around 300 ATMs in Austria, Germany and Spain.
True to the motto "not your keys, not your coins", in 2018 we also dedicated ourselves to the important topic of safekeeping and, together with the Austrian State Printing Office, developed a cold wallet to store Bitcoin offline and securely for longer periods of time: the Card Wallet.
2022 saw the release of our Coinfinity app, which allows you to buy and sell Bitcoin quickly and easily on your smartphone, and in 2023 we were the first Bitcoin broker in the EU to introduce Lightning.
However, we want to take a look into the future on the evening of 23 April 2024 in our hometown of Graz, where we will celebrate our anniversary in style.
As we all know, you only celebrate a decade once, which is why we will be spending the evening high above Graz in the beautiful Schlossberg Restaurant. Our invited guests will arrive in the rustic Schlossberg railway and can enjoy the beautiful view over Graz directly from the venue.
The evening promises to be not only a celebration of memories, but also a platform for exciting discussions and insights into the future of Bitcoin and digital currencies.
We are delighted to present a special episode of Niko Jilch's podcast "Was Bitcoin bringt" live on site. With our panellists Marc Friedrich, a renowned financial expert and bestselling author, and Sarah Palurovic from the Digital Euro Association, this episode will be dedicated to the exciting topic of "Bitcoin vs. the digital euro". The whole thing will of course be recorded and made available on our YouTube channel afterwards.
To mark our anniversary, we have also been working on some new product features. Stay tuned, because we will surprise you with many new features in the coming weeks. Follow us on social media and check out the blog to stay up to date.
Finally, there will be great prizes to be won during the period surrounding the event that will make every Bitcoiner's heart beat faster.
As a thank you for your trust in Coinfinity, we would also like to give our customers the chance to make our anniversary a very special highlight for them too.
That's why we are giving away 0% fees on buying and selling Bitcoin for 21 weeks to 10 Coinfinity users. Everyone who buys or sells Bitcoin worth at least €21 on the web portal or in the Coinfinity app between 1 April and 23 April 2024, including savings plans, will automatically be entered into the competition.
We can't wait to celebrate this milestone and wish you lots of fun with our new product features and, of course, good luck in the prize draw.
Investing harbours risks. Any financial investment can result in the loss of the capital invested. This competition does not constitute investment advice or an invitation to buy Bitcoin. You should always carry out your own research before making a purchase. Past performance is not an indication of future performance.
