27 November 2019
Blue Star Capital plc
("Blue Star" or the "Company")
Update on SatoshiPay
Blue Star Capital plc (AIM: BLU), the investing company with a focus on technology and its applications within media and gaming, provides an update in respect of its investee company SatoshiPay Ltd ("SatoshiPay").
Publishing vertical
The Company is pleased to announce that further, to its announcement on 31 January 2019, SatoshiPay has launched its first service with a product owned by globally operating German digital media publisher Axel Springer. The Tatorte website (tatorte24.de), a real-time map with police reports in Germany, went live with a prepaid subscription service powered by SatoshiPay's payment technology and with free user credits supplied by the Stellar Development Foundation ("SDF"). The Tatorte soft launch took place on 23 November 2019 and a first article covering the promotion was published on Germany's most visited website "bild.de". According to the partnership agreement, SatoshiPay's payment solution will be rolled out to other Axel Springer online properties should the pilot phase of Tatorte conclude successfully.
In addition, and further to the announcement made on 7 March 2019, SatoshiPay has very recently gone live with its micropayments solution with Der Aktionär (deraktionaer.de), a leading German financial news source, part of Börsenmedien AG an investor in SatoshiPay. The initial launch includes a paid report with an analysis of listed companies and a giveaway programme sponsored by the SDF. Der Aktionär is also the first website to feature SatoshiPay's upgraded user interface design, dubbed "SatoshiPay 2.0". Der Aktionär intends to add further paid content which can be purchased with SatoshiPay's solution in the near future and it is expected that the solution will be rolled out to other digital outlets of Börsenmedien AG.
New Service Launch "SatoshiPay B2B"
As revealed at SatoshiPay's 2019 Launch Event on 26 November 2019, SatoshiPay is introducing a new service called "SatoshiPay B2B", allowing businesses around the world to conveniently execute instant cross-border payments of any amount. The launch of its B2B service marks SatoshiPay's move into macro payments, serving a market with multi-trillion USD in annual revenue, by far the largest segment of the global payment market. SatoshiPay's existing partnership network and technical platform, built for its publishing vertical and based on the Stellar distributed ledger network, will also be the foundation of its B2B service. Further product and partnership announcements will follow in the coming months.
Other Developments
Since its introduction in January 2019, SatoshiPay's "Solar" application, a free open source wallet client software for the Stellar network, has been downloaded more than 20,000 times and is being used in 27 countries around the globe. Solar is available on all major mobile and desktop platforms and allows free Stellar account creation, fund transfers, Stellar network asset trading, multi-signature transfers and withdrawal to bank accounts, cash points or other blockchains connected to the Stellar network by open standards.
Finally, to reflect SatoshiPay's expansion into areas beyond micropayments for content, the company announced its new mission statement "to connect the world through instant payments" at the company's 2019 Launch Event on 26 November 2019. SatoshiPay's instant transfers leverage open and transparent financial infrastructures, such as distributed ledger networks, to settle funds globally within seconds, therefore, giving businesses and individuals the opportunity to interact with each other across borders in a frictionless way.
Meinhard Benn, Founder and CEO of SatoshiPay said: "We are extremely happy with our progress in 2019 and excited to finally go public with projects we have been working on throughout the year. As of today, our strategic partners Axel Springer and Börsenmedien are live with our payment technology. These two launches mark the next big step in SatoshiPay's growth story - a push into the mainstream. We are looking forward to extending these projects to additional paid content offerings of our partners and the development of new partnerships inspired by these excellent applications of our technology."
"With Solar, our open source blockchain wallet for the Stellar network, and our new B2B cross-border instant payments service, we are closing gaps in the global financial ecosystem. We aim to empower individuals and businesses around the planet, with a focus on underbanked regions - using next generation financial infrastructure and therefore follow our mission to connect the world through instant payments."
Tony Fabrizi, CEO of Blue Star said: "We are pleased to provide today's update on progress at SatoshiPay. The launches with publishing assets of Axel Springer and Börsenmedien should provide the foundations for further and faster growth within the publishing vertical while the new launch within the B2B payments space represents an important diversification".
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
For further information, please contact:
Blue Star Capital plc |
+44 (0) 777 178 2434 |
Tony Fabrizi |
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Cairn Financial Advisers LLP |
+44 (0) 20 7213 0880 |
(Nominated Adviser) |
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Jo Turner / Liam Murray |
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Smaller Company Capital Limited |
+44 (0) 203 651 2911 |
(Broker) Rupert Williams/Jeremy Woodgate |
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About Blue Star Capital plc
Blue Star is an investing company with a focus on new technologies. Blue Star's investments include a 27.9% holding in SatoshiPay, a nanopayment software and blockchain company; investments in 6 early stage esports companies with shareholdings ranging from 10% to 13% and an 1% investment in Sthaler, an early stage identity and payments technology business which enables a consumer to identify themselves and pay using just their finger at retail points of sale.
About SatoshiPay
SatoshiPay was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in London, with development led through its Berlin office. SatoshiPay offers a frictionless micropayment solution to help digital publishers monetise content globally. The SatoshiPay platform is based on scalable blockchain technology supplied by the Stellar.org network. Find frequently updated information at the company's website www.satoshipay.io, its blog www.medium.com/@SatoshiPay and Twitter @SatoshiPay.
