A new crypto marketplace launches today and its promising to increase the range of different currencies available to local investors.
File image. Photo: 123RF
The Australian-based exchange Swyftx have opened up a New Zealand version of its platform, offering local bank deposits and withdrawals in NZ dollars.
The company already had about 5000 local customers, but it is expanding to capture the growing local interest in crypto highlighted in a recent report by the Financial Services Council which found that 800,000 people would invest or planned into invest in the asset class in the next 12 months.
"We know that increasing numbers of Kiwis are looking for secure, low cost exchanges to buy and sell digital assets," Swyftx chief executive Alex Harper said.
It is offering locals investors access to more than 280 different coins and tokens, which the company claims is a 70 percent increase on what is currently provided locally.
This ranges from well established coins with a high market capitalisation to the more speculative meme coins.
The company plans to make it easier for investors to trade in and out of different currencies.
"Existing NZ exchanges work by simply booking a trade with them," Harper said.
"What this means is that you send them the money for a cryptocurrency and they send you the coin. It is basically just a pass through of funds."
Swyftx NZ customers will also be able to deposit higher amounts (up to $50,000) and can hold their assets in New Zealand dollars.
This will give them the ability to trade in and out of different coins more easily, Harper said.
Swyftx was founded three years ago and claims to be Australia's fastest growing exchange, with AU$3 billion traded in the year ended May.
The company estimated that the New Zealand market for digital assets was worth NZD$210 million.