After the demise of one of its flagship exchanges, New Zealand has this week welcomed the launch of a new service, BitPrime.
The move comes just six weeks after bitNZ, an exchange operating in New Zealand since 2011, was forced to close after its bank refused to serve it any longer.
“Bitcoin is a fairly new concept for most people, so we want to make it an accessible form of investment for everyday New Zealanders,” BitPrime CEO Geoffery Palmer said in an accompanying press release Tuesday.
“With interest rates being so low investors are looking for better returns in different asset classes, and this is precisely what Bitcoin offers.”
While the New Zealand market remains small in terms of trading, the expansion of the consumer market points to a more hospitable banking environment.
Alibaba teams up with NZ
At the same time, Blockchain enterprise in the country is picking up rapidly. New Zealand Post announced this week it was teaming up with China’s Alibaba and dairy giant Fonterra to develop a “Blockchain-based food security system” to “reassure [customers] about the quality and safety” of products.
The decision came about due to a major bacteria scare dealt with by Fonterra in 2013, which turned out to be a false positive but left a bad taste in the mouth of Chinese consumers regarding food safety.