BUX (brokerage)

BUX is a European mobile brokerage company, based in Amsterdam and London. Retail investors can buy shares and ETFs commission-free through the BUX Zero app. BUX offers CFD trading through its BUX X app and crypto trading through the BUX Crypto platform.[4]

BUX
TypePrivate
IndustryFinancial services
FoundedJuly 18, 2013 (2013-07-18)[1]
FounderNick Bortot[2]
Headquarters
Amsterdam
,
Netherlands
Area served
Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden
ServicesStockbroker
Electronic trading platform
Number of employees
125 (2020[3])
SubsidiariesBUX B.V.
BUX Financial Services Limited
BUX Alternative Investments B.V.
BUX Technology B.V.
Websitegetbux.com

History

BUX was founded in July 2013 by Nick Bortot, a former executive at Dutch online broker BinckBank.[5][6] The initial funding came from the founders and Orange Growth Capital.[7][8]

The company launched its first BUX app in September 2014 in the Netherlands and several months later in the UK.[9][10] It was based on CFD trading.[11]

In September 2015, BUX raised €1,700,000 from the American/British venture investor Initial Capital.[12][13][8] In February 2016, it raised another US$6,900,000 from Holtzbrinck Ventures, and existing shareholders Orange Growth Capital and Velocity Capital.[12][14] Also in February 2016, the app became available in Germany.[12][5]

In 2016 the company won "Accenture Innovation Awards".[15] Also Wired UK included the company into its "Europe's hottest startups 2016" list.[16] In October 2016, the company removed the BUX app from app stores for Belgium just 1 month after launch, due to local law prohibiting the commercialization of leveraged CFDs.[17]

In January 2017, the app was launched in Italy.[18] In October 2017, the firm raised another €10,600,000 from two existing shareholders, Holtzbrinck Ventures and Velocity Capital Management, as well as from a number of private investors (such as Arthur Kosten, the former CMO of Booking.com, BinckBank founder Thierry Schaap and the CEO and founder of Mollie nl:Adriaan Mol).[19][20] BUX also launched a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs, where it raised an additional €1,400,000.[21][22]

By November 2018, the BUX app had 2 million users in 9 European countries.[23]

In May 2019, BUX partnered with ABN AMRO to use the bank’s blockchain-based technology in its new zero-commission investing app.[24]

In June 2019, the firm raised US$12,500,000 in venture capital funds.[25][26] Some of that money was put towards acquiring Ayondo Markets Limited (AML), a UK subsidiary of a Singapore-based broker Ayondo, in a deal estimated at £5,700,000.[27][28][29] Also in June 2019, the BUX app was renamed to BUX X.

In September 2019, a new app named BUX Zero, was launched in the Netherlands.[30][31] In June 2020, it was launched in Germany and Austria and one month later in France.[32][33] In August 2020, it became available in Belgium.[34][35]

In January 2020, BUX acquired Blockport, a European cryptocurrency exchange.[36] The firm registered it with the Dutch Central Bank, rebranded and launched as BUX Crypto in April 2020.[37]

Products

The BUX Zero app, launched in September 2019, allows users to trade European and US stocks and exchange-traded funds at zero commission.[33] Financial services are provided by BUX B.V. and regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets.[38][39] As of October 2020, BUX Zero was available in the Netherlands, in Germany, Austria, France, and Belgium.[34]

The revenue of the company is generated by lending out the shares bought by their customers. The statement by the company says "You have become a client of BUX and explicitly given approval for the lending of Your Financial Instruments. The aim of lending Your Financial Instruments is to achieve a return for BUX, make it possible to offer certain services free of charge and keep other costs as low as possible for You."


BUX X, launched in September 2014, is an app for CFD trading, amidst criticism that CFD trading was too complicated and risky for consumers.[9][11][12] The service is provided by BUX Financial Services Limited, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.[40] As of September 2019, the app was available in the Netherlands, the UK, in Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, France, Sweden and Denmark.[41]

References
  1. "BUX Holding BV". drimble.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  2. Darbyshire, Madison (23 January 2020). "Freetrade stakes claim in Europe's fee-free stock trading markets". Financial Times. Retrieved 1 October 2020.(subscription required)
  3. Cranenbroek, Pieter (22 September 2020). "LinkedIn Top Startups 2020: deze 10 Nederlandse bedrijven zitten in de lift" [LinkedIn Top Startups 2020: these 10 Dutch companies are on the rise]. LinkedIn. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  4. de Boer, Jeroen (5 October 2020). "De jonge generatie van nieuwe beleggers kijkt verder dan hippe aandelen zoals Tesla, aldus CEO Nick Bortot van beleggingsapp BUX" [The young generation of new investors is looking beyond hip stocks such as Tesla, says CEO Nick Bortot of investment app BUX]. Business Insider Netherlands (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  5. Sandmann, Philipp (24 December 2016). "Diese App soll Jugendliche zu Börsengurus machen" [This app aims to turn young people into stock market gurus]. Die Welt (in German). Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  6. Kar-Gupta, Sudip (16 February 2015). "REFILE-From Grand Theft Auto to Wall St: Trading apps woo gamers". Reuters. London. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  7. Cohen, Roger; Kooiman, Joris (12 September 2014). "Bux-app maakt van beleggen een simpel spel" [Bux app makes investing a simple game]. Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 October 2020.(subscription required)
  8. Golovtchenko, Victor (15 September 2015). "Trading App BUX Raises Additional $1.9 mln to Boost Growth". Finance Magnates. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  9. van der Vliet, Harrison (3 October 2014). "Hoe ik niet rijk werd van beleggen op mijn telefoon" [How I didn't get rich from investing on my phone]. NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  10. Appelo, Jurgen (2019). "3. Picking Up the Pieces". Startup, Scaleup, Screwup: 42 Tools to Accelerate Lean and Agile Business Growth. John Wiley & Sons. p. 26. ISBN 9781119526889.
  11. Fenwick, Tom (23 October 2015). "The Smartphone Game Where In-App Purchases Are Real-World Stocks and Shares". Vice. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  12. Betlem, Rutger (17 February 2016). "Bux breidt uit in Duitsland" [Bux expands in Germany]. Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 October 2020.(subscription required)
  13. O'Hear, Steve (15 September 2015). "Casual Trading App Bux Raises $1.9M". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  14. Finberg, Ron (17 February 2016). "Tapping a New Market of Traders, BUX Closes $6.9m Funding Round Amid Strong User Growth". Finance Magnates. Archived from the original on 9 July 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  15. "Tulpen voor innovatie in Nederland" [Tulips for innovation in the Netherlands] (in Dutch). RTL Nieuws. 24 April 2016.
  16. Burgess, Matt (14 September 2016). "Europe's hottest startups 2016: Amsterdam". Wired UK. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  17. De Rijcke, Christophe (15 October 2016). "Nederlandse Bux sluit beursapp af voor Belgen" [Dutch Bux shuts down stock market app for Belgians]. De Tijd (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 15 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.(subscription required)
  18. Betlem, Rutger (24 January 2017). "Fintech-start ups zijn de grondstof voor het nieuwe bankieren" [Fintech start-ups are the raw material for the new banking]. Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 October 2020.(subscription required)
  19. Braaksma, Jan (23 October 2017). "Beleggingsapp Bux haalt miljoenen op voor uitbreidingsplannen" [Investment app Bux raises millions for expansion plans]. Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 October 2020.(subscription required)
  20. "BUX: Börsen-App erhält 10,6 Millionen Euro" [BUX: Stock exchange app receives 10.6 million euros]. Wirtschaftswoche (in German). 23 October 2017. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  21. Williams-Grut, Oscar (13 December 2017). "Seedrs CEO hails 'standout year' as total investment on crowdfunding platform passes £300 million". Business Insider UK. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
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  24. Beedham, Matthew (29 May 2019). "ABN AMRO is helping BUX blockchainify its new stock trading app". The Next Web. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  25. Kimberley, David (12 June 2019). "BUX Raises $12.5 Million, Acquires Ayondo UK Subsidiary". Finance Magnates. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  26. Thole, Herwin (13 June 2019). "Beleggersapp Bux haalt €11,1 miljoen op, komt in juli met gratis beleggen en neemt branchegenoot Ayondo over" [Investor app Bux raises € 11.1 million, launches free investing in July and acquires industry peer Ayondo]. Business Insider Netherlands (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 15 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  27. Golovtchenko, Victor (14 February 2019). "Breaking: BUX in Exploratory Talks to Buy UK Subsidiary of ayondo". Finance Magnates. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  28. "Ayondo goes ahead with deal to sell UK unit for £5.7m". The Straits Times. 8 May 2019. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
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  30. O'Hear, Steve (11 September 2019). "Bux launches 'BUX Zero' to begin offering fee-free trading in Netherlands". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 11 September 2019.
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  33. Tattersall, Michael (22 July 2020). "Bux expands its commission-free trading app to France". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  34. Simoens, Kristof (18 August 2020). "Gratis beleggen met nieuwe app: te mooi om waar te zijn?" [To invest free of charge with a new app: is it too good to be true?]. Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 October 2020.(subscription required)
  35. "Nederlandse beleggingsapp wil Belgen lokken met gratis transacties" [Dutch investment app wants to lure Belgians with free transactions]. De Standaard (in Dutch). Belga. 18 August 2020. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  36. O'Hear, Steve (9 January 2020). "Bux acquires 'social' cryptocurrency investment platform Blockport". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 9 January 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
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  40. "BUX Financial Services Limited". Financial Conduct Authority. 18 October 2020. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
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