Bitreserve, Now Uphold, Integrates with the Global Financial Ecosystem

Uphold, formerly Bitreserve, today announced a complete rebrand and the launch of new functionalities, products and services to several key markets. The blog post by President & CEO Anthony Watson explains that consumers, businesses and charities can now fund their Uphold accounts via bank transfer or by linking a credit or debit card, in addition to bitcoin. This new functionality is initially available today in 33 European countries. In the coming weeks, Uphold plans to roll out these and other capabilities across the United States, China and India.

• Phase 1: Live today: Members in 33 European countries can fund Uphold accounts via bank transfer; members in 30 European countries can fund accounts with credit or debit cards, in addition to bitcoin.
• Phase 2: November 2015: Members in the U.S. and China (limited beta) can fund Uphold accounts via bank transfer and credit or debit cards in addition to bitcoin.
• Phase 3: December 2015: Uphold will introduce both physical and virtual payment cards with Visa, MasterCard and Discover card (limited beta), allowing Members to pay merchants online or in-store, directly from their Uphold accounts.
• Phase 4: January 2016: Members in India (limited beta) can fund Uphold accounts via bank transfer and credit or debit cards in addition to bitcoin.

What’s New & Noteworthy

• Bitreserve is now Uphold: Uphold is the world's leading cloud-based money platform. It connects the legacy and fragmented financial ecosystem with the future of money and finance which the company calls “The Internet of Money™”. Uphold offers accessible, equitable, fair and free financial services without risks, without restriction and without limitations. Full details are here.
• Previously, Uphold accounts were funded exclusively with bitcoin. Uphold members can now fund their accounts by linking bank accounts, debit and credit cards, in addition to crypto currencies. This allows Uphold members to move, convert, hold and transact in any form of money or commodity instantly, securely and for free.
• By integrating with Uphold, businesses and developers can create applications, products and services that deliver free, secure, regulatory compliant and instant value transfer, conversion, storage and exchange through Uphold’s open API, Uphold Connect.
• To date, Uphold has powered over $400 million in USD transactions by tens of thousands of members across 163 countries, in 24 supported currencies and four precious metals.
• The equivalent to just under 22% of the world's publicly traded bitcoin has been transacted on Uphold, making Uphold one of the largest bitcoin companies in the world.

“Our mission is to make it easy and frictionless for anyone, anywhere to move, convert, hold and transact in any form of money or commodity securely, instantly and for free,” said Anthony Watson, Uphold’s president & CEO. “By connecting the world’s legacy and fragmented financial networks and systems with the world's leading cloud-money platform we bring to the marketplace instant, transparent, accountable and free financial services for all. We’re simplifying and radically reducing costs for all financial transactions and services -- from currency conversions to international money transfers and payroll to bill payment and remittance.”

Uphold places equal value on business success and social benefit, waiving all fees for registered charities. In addition, 5% of the company’s pre-tax profits are donated to support charities and causes for good that make a demonstrable and positive difference in people’s lives around the world.

About Uphold

Uphold enables anyone, anywhere to move, convert, hold and transact in any form of money or commodity instantly, securely and for free. Launched by Halsey Minor in November 2014, Uphold is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, with operations in London, Braga, Shanghai and San Francisco. For more information, visit www.uphold.com or on social media at @UpholdInc and www.facebook.com/UpholdInc.

Note to editors:

• Eligibility
  The ability to link Uphold to bank accounts, debit and/or credit cards is only available to registered, authorized and authenticated members in approved countries. Phase one of the roll out is available to European-based members only: 33 countries support member bank transfers and 30 countries support member credit or debit card connectivity.
• Pricing
  • Membership is free
  • Free for Uphold members to fund their Uphold account(s) from any bank in approved areas
  • Free to transfer value to and between Uphold members, with no minimum or maximum obligation amounts, currency or transaction restrictions
  • Free to buy, move and convert any currency (Foreign Exchange) on Uphold
  • A fee of 2.75% applies if members choose to fund their account with a debit and/or credit cards
  • Free to withdraw value out of the Uphold platform for up to €10,500, £8,000 or 60 BTC per year then a fee of 0.5% applies to moving money out of Uphold (note: sending or receiving money, member-to-member within Uphold is completely free regardless of the amount, currency or frequency)
  • Precious metal conversions: XAU (1.95%), XPT (3.85%), XPD (2.95%), XAG (3.55%)
  • For more details, see Uphold’s FAQ and for full list of pricing and approved countries see the pricing matrix
• Open API
  By integrating with Uphold’s seamless and open API, Uphold Connect, developers and third parties can create applications, products and services that instantly, and securely deliver and transfer any type of money or commodity to anyone, anywhere at no cost, including free currency conversations and storage. Uphold has built world-leading Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) controls right into its open API. This takes care of the regulatory burden and control requirements developers face when entering the financial economy, allowing innovation without restrictions on a globally compliant and robust platform.

• Uphold is not a bank. By design.
  Uphold is the world’s first and only completely transparent and fully verifiable reserve. Uphold has numerous patented and proprietary technologies including; Reserveledger™ and Reservechain™, which for the first time brings transparent financial accountability to the marketplace. Allowing members, regulators and the general public to verify, in real time, the balances, transaction flows and volumes, as well as Uphold’s solvency, assets and obligations, including its overall financial health profile. Uphold is independently audited on a quarterly basis, and does not lend or leverage its members funds. Uphold member funds are held in legally segregated accounts. Uphold is safe and secure and members’ funds can be withdrawn, at any time, regardless of what is happening in the global economy.

• Security
  Upholding consumer protection is of utmost importance for Uphold, its members and partners. The security team is led by Bill Dennings, the company’s Chief Information & Security Officer (CISO) who was formerly the CISO of MasterCard, Inc. Uphold constantly tests and reinforces the technologies, processes and procedures that protect its members’ and partners information, transactions and funds. Furthermore, Uphold’s platform is fully compliant and either meets or exceeds all relevant financial regulations, including global AML and KYC regulations and controls. In September 2015 Uphold was one of the first companies in the digital money space to be certified PCI-DSS compliant.

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Contact information

Uphold
Caitlin Regan, +1 925-899-4326
media@uphold.com