DLA Piper advises Kurant GmbH on Europe-wide roll-out of bitcoin vending machines

DLA Piper has advised Austrian Bitcoin vending machine operator Kurant GmbH on the Europe-wide roll-out of its Bitcoin machines. Following this expansion across Europe, the purchase of cryptocurrencies is now possible at more than 130 vending machines in Austria, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Greece.

To expand its footprint in Europe, Kurant has acquired a large number of vending machines and also subsidiaries in Greece and Spain. DLA Piper provided advice on the financing round with existing investors, as well as on the tax and employment law aspects.

Kurant is the first Austrian company that focuses on the officially registered installation of Bitcoin machines which enables customers to process Bitcoin purchases easily. The company was founded in 2017 as a spin-off of Coinfinity GmbH's vending machine activities, which was launched in 2014, and is now the leading provider of bitcoin vending machines in Europe.

DLA Piper’s Corporate senior associate, Valerie Kramer, who led the team advising Kurant, said: “We are very pleased to have advised Kurant on the Europe-wide roll-out of its Bitcoin machines and thus on its rise to a European market leader. We are seeing a continuous interest in digital currencies which also brings exciting questions from the legal side.”

The DLA Piper cross-practice team was led by the Vienna-based Corporate senior associate Valerie Kramer.Other team members in Austria included partner Maria Doralt and counsel Johanna Höltl (both Corporate), partner Dimitar Hristov (Tax), partner Stephan Nitzl (Employment), partner Christoph Urbanek, counsel Lothar Farthofer (both Finance) and counsel Stephan Panic (IPT).