Draft:Bitonic

Bitonic
Bitonic B.V. is a company where you can buy and sell bitcoin as an individual and business customer. It is the first bitcoin company in the Netherlands. Bitonic also has a trading platform (BL3P), a bitcoin savings service (Bits) and knowledge platform (bitcoin.nl). It also contributes to developments around the Bitcoin protocol (Lightning).

Through the Bitonic Academy, the company provides presentations, workshops and consultancy. Bitonic is part of the Branchevereniging Verenigde Bitcoinbedrijven Nederland (VBNL) and is a regulated Bitcoin company registered with De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).

History
Bitonic was originally founded under the name iDealCoin and started as an online platform for buying and selling bitcoins via iDEAL payments in the Netherlands. Official founding date: May 1, 2012 registered with the Chamber of Commerce (KvK), this makes it the first Bitcoin company in the Netherlands.

On April 1, 2012, the company opened its first office in Driebergen, the Netherlands. A year later, Bitonic moved to an office in Baarn. In May of 2017, the company opened a branch on Weesperstraat in Amsterdam. As of July 2022, its (only) headquarters is located at Hoogte Kadijk 143F.

Bitonic had a crucial role in discovering a flaw in the Bitcoins software. Co-founder Jouke Hofman and a miner named Thermoman were the first to discover a problem in the Bitcoin blockchain on March 11, 2013. It turned out that a hard fork had occurred. Shortly thereafter, Bitcoin developer Pieter Wuille called on miners to downgrade the Bitcoin software. Discovering the hard fork early ensured that the problem did not lead to further damage.

Services and initiatives
In addition to buying and selling bitcoin, Bitonic offers several other services. The company features the BL3P European trading platform, where bitcoin can be traded. In addition, Bitonic offers a savings service called Bits, which allows customers to set up an automated savings plan to buy Bitcoin periodically. Bitonic is also the initiator of the educational platform bitcoin.co.uk, which aims to educate people about Bitcoin on a non-profit basis. Bitonic is actively contributing to developments around the Bitcoin protocol, particularly the development of the Lightning network. The company organizes presentations and workshops through the Bitonic Academy to share knowledge with interested parties. The monthly Bitcoin meetup Bitdevs also takes place at Bitonic's offices.

Regulation and lawsuit DNB
Bitonic is a regulated Bitcoin company registered with De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).In 2021, Bitonic filed a lawsuit against DNB regarding the registration process and legality of the wallet verification requirement set by the exchange watchdog.

On April 7, 2021, the interim relief judge ruled that Bitonic had the right to object to the wallet verification requirement and ruled in favor of the company.