Local and global growth of the cryptocurrency market as it gains credence as a means of diversifying investment portfolios, is helping propel Kiwi-based Easy Crypto to new sales heights.
Janine Grainger jokes that her company is one of New Zealand’s fastest growing, biggest businesses that no one has ever heard of.
She’s not really joking though. Just three years after launching, Kiwi-founded digital currency retailer Easy Crypto has transacted close to a billion dollars in total sales. Sales are up more than 1000 percent year on year in the past year, and Easy Crypto now counts more than 100,000 people of all ages – including a burgeoning base of older consumers – amongst its users.
And it’s not just Kiwi growth. The company – New Zealand’s largest cryptocurrency retailer – now has operations in four countries, including Australia and South Africa, and is experiencing strong offshore growth.
The company has just launched its global site easycrypto.com marking an extension of the company’s international push, with operations currently launching in Brazil.
That growth is translating into new employment opportunities for both Kiwis and those in other markets:
“In my first year as CEO, I’ve seen the business grow from eight employees to a team of more than 65,” Grainger (pictured) says. Twenty-five of those are based in New Zealand, and the growth is continuing, with Easy Crypto currently on the hunt for talented developers for its team.
Diversification as crypto wins new markets
The company’s success comes in a year of highs, and increasing acceptance, for cryptocurrencies. El Salvador became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender and crypto payment options are becoming commonplace with large payment providers such as PayPal and Visa. There has been a shift towards corporate and institutional investment in crypto with 169-year old insurance company MassMutual and software company MicroStrategy among those investing millions in Bitcoin as they seek to diversify their portfolios.
That desire to diversify portfolios is also driving local adoption.
“We’re continuing to see increasing diversification of our customer base, with increasing numbers of the older generation and women buying into crypto currencies using Easy Crypto,” Grainger says. “Many of them are people with potentially a lot of wealth behind them, who see crypto as a way to diversify their investment holdings.
“Cryptocurrencies can offer investment products where you get better actual returns than you can through bank interest, for example. Staking and lending in cryptocurrencies can have three to well over 10 percent annual returns, so they provide a good way of diversifying your portfolio and getting good returns to boot.”
Most cryptocurrencies have reached all-time highs in the past year, and despite a drop in recent months, Bitcoin remains up 248 percent (as at July 20 2021) on its value this time last year.
The company, which has a mission to make cryptocurrency easy, simple and safe so that anyone can get involved, buys and sells more than 140 different currencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tron. Grainger notes that moves by regulators around the world to become more hands on, as they recognise that digital currencies are native to the digital economy and becoming mainstream, will create a more standardised and consumer friendly environment.
New Zealand’s Reserve Bank is beginning consultation on a wide range of topics around the currency system, with papers around electronic money forms, including crypto assets, among those due to be released.
A June report from the Financial Services Council of New Zealand found as at April 2021 9.5 percent of Kiwis have invested, or are investing, in cryptocurrencies – up from 3.1 percent in March 2020.
Grainger notes that most of Easy Crypto’s customers are buying and holding, with many repeatedly buying small amounts – a strategy known as “dollar cost averaging”
Growth ahead
Grainger says the company is currently looking to hire another eight development staff to deliver on an exciting roadmap, which will see Easy Crypto at the forefront of developments in the crypto space. She admits, however, that the ongoing skills shortages in New Zealand can be a challenge – and a frustration.
“We would love to hire those people from New Zealand, because that Kiwi can-do attitude and the skills and cultural fit of Kiwis is a perfect fit for our brand and our mission. However, because we are a fully remote and online business, we can hire from anywhere.”
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