• Relai has enabled instant bitcoin purchases for its customers.
  • The upgrade lessens fiat funding time from a few days to less than five minutes, often only taking 10 seconds, through Europe's SEPA instant payments.
  • The company recently raised 2.1 million and now looks to expand into other regions in the future.

European bitcoin-only investment app Relai has upgraded its network to enable instant single European payment area (SEPA) payments around the clock, according to a release sent to Bitcoin Magazine.

Typically, a trade using a standard Swiss bank will take up to four days for processing. But European Relai customers are now able to purchase bitcoin in five minutes or less, usually taking about 10 seconds to complete the transaction.

The instant payment functionality will be a great plus for our European customers, giving them that extra layer of control over when they put their money in and when they take it out, and really make the most of the changing market, "said Julian Liniger, CEO and co-founder of Relai, per the release." Ultimately, investing should be all about control - and were giving our users as much of it as possible.

Customers who choose to set up recurring bitcoin purchases will also receive a one-time promotion of 10 euros (EUR) or Swiss francs (CHF), valid for new and existing customers.

The Relai app only provides non-custodial wallets, meaning its customers maintain control of their private keys at all times. In the release, the company asserts this functionality is a requirement in the ecosystem as customers are seeing more and more of their funds and assets being frozen by exchanges due to market downtrends and liquidations.

"Something were really passionate about here at Relai is removing the barriers to bitcoin saving and investing, not just from an education and understanding perspective, but also from a standpoint of actually being able to buy and store bitcoin simply and efficiently," said Liniger.

Relai's expansion comes on the heels of a successful 2.1 million raise from Crowdcube as the company looks to expand into other regions.