Opening the crypto gate with Januar

For any enterprise, having a bank account is foundational. If a bank can't be accessed, the business won't work.

This is a problem for crypto enterprises in Denmark, as many of them are denied access to banking. A problem that Januar set out to solve.

Januar is a regulated payment institute, built to provide payment accounts to crypto companies, says Simon Ousager, founder & CEO of Januar:

- Let's imagine you own a crypto broker. To serve the retail market, you need to be able to receive payments. But if you don't have a bank account to receive those funds, then you can't do business.

- We go in and offer payment accounts, where you can receive these funds, and we do all the AML and KYC to ensure full regulatory compliance.

Traditional banks shy away from crypto

Cryptocurrency businesses who ask banks for business bank accounts are often declined.

The problem is, these types of enterprises add an extra layer of risk for banks, who usually don't understand the industry, according to Simon Ousager:

- They don't understand the industry, they don't have the teams right now to properly quantify risk in crypto transactions, and understand the business models of crypto businesses.

- They have a lot of risk, and a lot of things to manage. It's easier for them to just say that they don't bank crypto businesses. Often crypto businesses have to go to Lithuania, Switzerland or United Kingdom.

Januar has come far in a short span

The fintech startup, which describes itself as the European crypto gate, has only existed for about a year, according to CEO and founder. Yet, in a relatively short timespan, it has achieved a number of things:

- We've been growing very fast, going live with our first project here in Q1. Januar has already done a lot of things that I'd say are quite impressive.

- We managed to secure a payment licence, so we're a regulated payment institute. The interesting thing with that licence is with that in hand, we have our own AML obligations. It's regulated under PSD2, specifically because the banks can reject normal businesses that do crypto, but they're not allowed to reject regulated payment institutes.

- We have the licence, we managed to get a good banking partnership because of this dynamic, and we managed to scale the team up to 35 specialists.

Enabling the next generation of crypto business

Januar's vision is to ensure that there's infrastructure in place for the aspiring entrepreneurs building the next generation of crypto businesses.

- We believe that crypto usage and investment is going to grow, and that this is an industry which isn't going away. We also think regulation in the European union is very good for startups.

- There are good opportunities to do proper risk reporting, transaction monitoring, all these things that need to be in place to run a compliant financial institution.

Aside from being a resident at Copenhagen Fintech, Januar was also part of the Incubation Program, one of Copenhagen Fintech's offerings designed to assist early-stage startups in their growth:

- We were in the Incubation Program a year ago, and really appreciate how Copenhagen Fintech connected us with relevant stakeholders, and helped us along in this journey.