SurBTC, a digital currency exchange based in Chile, has announced the successful completion of its seed funding round. The round netted SurBTC $300,000 from various US venture capital investors, Chilean businesses and entrepreneurs. The infusion of capital will allow SurBTC to expand its domestic operations and establish a presence across South America.

Digital Currency Group (DCG), a prominent New York digital currency investment firm, was among the backers in this round. “I strongly feel SurBTC will be a complimentary addition to DCG’s international portfolio of bitcoin exchanges, and an important partner for remittance companies throughout the world.”, said Barry Silbert, CEO and Founder of DCG.

Guillermo Torrealba, CEO and Co-founder of SurBTC, lamented about how important DCG’s participation in the funding round is to bringing legitimacy to the blockchain economy in Chile and Latin America:

“Having investors like Digital Currency Group, among other major Chilean businessmen who have decided to support the company and its vision, definitely encourages us to continue pushing for the legitimization of the technology and its many use cases.”

Torrealba also sees Bitcoin as a means of bring financial services to millions of South Americans who don’t have access to the legacy banking system, “We don’t just think Bitcoin will be helpful for more than 250 million people who are still unbanked here in South America, we’re seeing it everyday with new incoming Venezuelan, Argentinean and Chilean customers.” said Torrealba.

According to the press release, SurBTC will also be focusing on developing its blockchain-based remittance services geared towards local merchants dealing with Peso-to-Yuan conversions and individuals looking to send money abroad.

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