B2C2

B2C2 is a regulated financial services firm based in the United Kingdom. It primarily serves as an OTC market maker, risk manager, and liquidity provider for the cryptocurrency markets. In December 2020, the company was acquired by SBI Financial Services, a subsidiary of Japanese investment firm SBI Holdings (SBI).
== Company History ==
B2C2 was a privately-held firm founded in 2015 by Max Boonen, a former Goldman Sachs trader, and Flavio Molendini. Its investors include Wicklow Capital. Information about its other investors has not been shared with the public. In January 2018 Phillip Gillespie, another former Goldman-Sachs trader, joined the company as CEO of its Japan-based location. 
B2C2 was also a founding member of the University of Oxford's Centre for Technology and Global Affairs, as well as being a member of the U.K. self-regulatory trade organization CryptoUK, Brussels's Blockchain and Virtual Currencies Working Group, France's Cryptocurrency Management Association, and Japan’s Cryptocurrency Business Association.
In October 2018, B2C2 partnered with Caspian to join its digital platform with Caspian's, allowing it to connect to other platforms also connected to Caspian.
In February 2019 a subsidiary, B2C2 OTC Ltd., was authorized by the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to arrange and deal in cryptocurrency CFDs. Boonen said that this would allow B2C2 clients to trade in digital assets while avoiding the “risks associated with crypto custody.” 
During the corona virus-fueled March 2020 market rout when bitcoin prices fell more than 50% over a two day period, Boonen told The Block Crypto, an online cryptocurrency news service, that the firm was experiencing record levels of trading volume.
In July 2020, the company announced that it had received a $30 million minority investment from SBI Financial Services, a subsidiary of Japanese investment giant, SBI Holdings. According to its press release, the new funds are to be used for expanding transaction financing as B2C2 continues to expand its prime brokerage services.
SBI Financial Services acquired B2C2 in December 2020, enabling SBI "to open a principal trading desk" in what the companies said was a world's first for a financial conglomerate. The press release announcing the deal indicated that B2C2's technology and customer base were already being integrated with those of "SBI's new digital exchange." 
 
=== U.S. Expansion ===
In March 2019, B2C2 announced that the company had hired Rob Catalanello, a former senior employee of Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Credit Agricole, as the president and CEO of B2C2's new U.S. branch.
=== Litigation ===
In 2017, in the first cryptocurrency dispute ever decided by a Singapore court, B2C2 sued Quoine, a Tokyo-based cryptocurrency trading platform, over transaction reversals made on Quoine that April. B2C2 said that the reversals led to proceeds being deducted without authorization, causing B2C2 to lose 3,085 bitcoins. The Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) ruled on March 14, 2019 that Quoine was in breach of contract with B2C2, and ordered the Japanese company to pay B2C2 for damages an amount of money to be determined at a later date. 
Quoine appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal, the highest Singapore court, which decided in B2C2's favor. The only remaining issue is the size of the amount of damages to be paid by Quoine.
== Products and services ==
B2C2 manages digital assets for institutional investors. B2C2 offers services for over-the-counter trading of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ripple (XRP), Ethereum Classic (ETC) and ZCash (ZEC) via its software platform. This platform also allows B2C2's clients to monitor live pricing in defined quantities. BTC, ETH, XRP, LTC, EOS, BCH, XLM.In October 2019, B2C2 released a gold-backed, bitcoin-settled derivative product, which is available to financial institutions only.
== Key People ==
*Max Boonen - Co-founder 
*Flavio Molendini - Co-founder 
*Phil Gillespie - CEO — B2C2 Japan 
*Robert Catalanello - CEO — B2C2 USA 
*Simon Heinrich - Chief Information Officer 
*Neil Grant - Chief Compliance Officer
*Manuela Warnier - Chief of Staff
== References ==
 
Category: digital assets
Category: definitions
Category: cryptocurrency
Category: trading
Category: bitcoin
Category: ethereum
Category: litecoin
Category: ripple
Category: XRP
Category: regulation
Category: litigation
Category: Goldman Sachs
Category: exchanges
Category: market makers
Category: United Kingdom
Category: SBI Holdings
Category: CryptoMarketsWiki