What is London Block Exchange Project?

London Block Exchange (LBX) is a UK-based trading platform for cryptocurrencies, which is still not operational. It will be offering an online platform and a mobile trading application for iOS devices (Android coming soon). The users would be able to trade cryptocurrencies for fiat currencies. For now, the clients would be able to trade Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin and Ripple for GBP. More cryptos are promised to be added on a regular basis.

The LBX is launching a Visa card, the Dragoncard, that will allow users to spend their bitcoin savings. The card, designed to overcome a key drawback of bitcoin that it is not a widely accepted form of payment, will convert holdings in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to pounds and allow users to conduct day-to-day transactions as though with a credit/debit card.

When a user makes a transaction using the Dragoncard, LBX pays the merchant in pounds and withdraws cryptocurrency from the user's wallet and converts it into pounds. LBX charges a 0.5% fee for processing the payment. While there have been other companies to launch bitcoin cards, LBX is the first to introduce a card for all major cryptocurrencies. The exchange has been provisionally approved by the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK's financial regulator.

The LBX wallet app provides real-time market data and allows users to exchange between cryptocurrencies. LBX has received £2m in funding for the project.

Benjamin Dives, LBX's chief executive, spoke of the project, “Despite being the financial capital of the world, London is a difficult place for investors to enter and trade in the cryptocurrency market.

“We’ll bring it into the mainstream by removing the barriers to access, and by helping people understand and have confidence in what we believe is the future of money.”

While Visa has raised concerns regarding cryptocurrencies stating that regulations were unclear in the EU, LBX said it did not see such issues because conversions are only done in pounds. LBX launches in December 2017.

Vision and mission:

Our vision is to create a cryptocurrency exchange made with traditional traders. This is why we combine the best in traditional trading from the London Block Exchange, with the best cryptocurrency to create world-class crypto exchanges.

Our mission is to launch a new, safe and convenient platform for trading cryptocurrency directly using a fiat called the “London Block Exchange”. London Block Exchange has been developed to become a world-class cryptocurrency with one of the highest liquidity and provides absolute security at the lowest cost.

We intend to enable clients to use the London Block Exchange and cryptocurrency accounts to migrate or move (partially or wholly) position/exposure into our Group’s online trading platform efficiently, quickly and without cost, through the general use of the best back office and banking backbone and payment methods available by our group. In addition, the accumulated experience is related to Risk Management, Account Management.

Now LBX is here to help build part of a new financial ecosystem, which allows anyone to trade cryptocurrency in an easy-to-use, safe and protected environment.

Here at LBX, believe that the future is for everyone.

Advantages & Disadvantages:

Advantages:

Major coins. LBX is going to offer trading in some of the largest cryptocurrencies and plans to be adding more.
Mobile app. In addition to a web-based trading platform, LBX is going to be available only as a mobile application. Users would be able to trade in cryptos, have access to real-time market data, deposit and withdraw funds and manage their portfolio and balances in real-time.
Services for institutional traders/brokers. LBX will offer over-the-counter services for institutional traders and brokers. They would be able to trade cryptocurrencies under preferential conditions for high volume orders. LBX currently offers trading in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple, paired with £, € and $. There is a requirement for a minimum trade size of £25,000 per cryptocurrency.
Offers educational services. LBX has a “College of Crypto” - an educational section on the site that gives basic information about the important aspects of blockchain and cryptocurrencies – what they are, how they work and explains the basic terminology of the industry. There is also information about the largest cryptocurrencies, what is an ICO, etc., and regular market reports.
Fast deposits and withdrawals. LBX will utilize UK’s Faster Payment Service (FPS) that will reduce the processing time of fiat deposit and withdrawals. Additionally, users of the FPS will be able to seamlessly exchange cryptocurrencies for fiat (GBP) and the other way around. However, the service will be available only for premium and pre-registered users. They will also benefit from no deposit fee and low withdrawal fees.

Disadvantages:

Not yet operational. It seems that LBX has been postponing the launch several times and some potential clients are already losing patience. According to its own site, LBX has gone through the private beta testing phase and is getting ready for a public release. However, at the time of writing of this review, there is no set date for this.
No info on trading fees. We could not find information about LBX’s trading fees. Perhaps when the platform launches, the commission will be announced.
No info on deposit/withdrawal fees. At the time of writing of this review, we could not find information about the deposit and withdrawal fees, either. We could not find information about the fiat currency deposit methods and whether or not credit and debit cards will be accepted.
Trading platform not yet ready. We could not have a look at LBX’s platform, because it is not ready yet.

About The London Block Exchange Team:

Benjamin Dives – Founder and CEO
Jono Mcleod – Co-founder and Head of operations
Adam Bryant – Executive Chairman
Matt Belton – Business development and Operations Manager
Michail Ballis – Head of Marketing operations