According to EU-Startups, Paris-based Bitcoin savings app Bitstack has announced a €12.9 million ($15 million) Series A funding round led by 13books Capital. The company, founded in 2021 by Alexandre Roubaud and Kabir Sethi, says it now has over 300,000 active users who have saved more than €300 million in Bitcoin. CEO Roubaud claims revenue has grown tenfold in just two years, positioning Bitstack as the most widely used French crypto app. The fresh capital will accelerate European expansion and fund new products, including a euro account with a French IBAN and a Visa debit card with Bitcoin rewards. This comes after Bitstack secured a crucial MiCA license from the AMF on June 30, 2025, making it only the third French company to do so.
The Round-Up War Is On
Here’s the thing: Bitstack’s core model isn’t new. Round up your spare change into an investment? Acorns and others have been doing that with stocks for years. But applying it to Bitcoin in Europe, especially now, is a fascinating bet. They’re basically banking on two powerful trends: frustration with inflation eroding the euro’s value—the ECB says prices are up 23.4% since late 2020—and the gradual normalization of crypto through regulations like MiCA.
And they’re not alone. The article points out Prague’s BitDCA raising €7.6 million for a similar “Littlebit” app. So we’re seeing the early skirmishes in a European battle for the micro-saver. The strategy is clever. It makes Bitcoin accumulation passive, almost invisible, which lowers the psychological barrier to entry. You’re not “buying Bitcoin,” you’re just saving your digital loose change. The revenue model here is presumably on spreads or fees on those tiny purchases, which can add up massively with 300k users.
Beyond Spare Change: A Full-Stack Play
But this new funding round shows Bitstack isn’t content to just be a cute round-up app. The planned euro account and Visa debit card are a huge tell. They want to become your primary financial interface. The “stackback” rewards on the card is a direct play to compete with traditional banking loyalty programs, but paying you in satoshis instead of air miles.
This move from a single-feature app to a broader financial platform is critical for survival and scaling. It increases user engagement and locks people into their ecosystem. Why use Bitstack just for round-ups when you can have your salary deposited into its euro account and spend with its card? It’s a land grab for the crypto-curious European who isn’t ready to dive into complex exchanges but wants exposure. And with nearly 4 million French people already holding Bitcoin, the market is clearly there.
Institutional Tides Lift Retail Boats
What’s really interesting is the broader funding context. This isn’t just a retail story. While Bitstack and BitDCA cater to consumers, the article notes massive raises for institutional infrastructure like Tangany (€10M for custody) and especially Treasury, a Bitcoin “vault” that scooped up a staggering €126 million. That’s nearly ten times Bitstack’s round!
So what’s the connection? Basically, the whole digital asset stack in Europe is getting funded simultaneously. Regulated custody back-ends enable compliant retail front-ends. Investor confidence isn’t in just one app; it’s in the maturation of the entire European crypto ecosystem. MiCA provides the regulatory clarity, and now capital is flooding in to build every layer. Bitstack’s success is partly dependent on this wider institutional groundwork being laid. It’s a much safer bet for 13books Capital and the others when the rails are being built at the same time.
The Real Hurdle Isn’t Technology
Now, let’s be skeptical for a second. The tech here isn’t the hard part. Building a round-up mechanism or issuing a debit card is straightforward. The monumental challenge is behavioral and educational. Can they convince the average European that saving in a volatile asset like Bitcoin is wiser than keeping euros in a savings account, even with inflation? Can they do it at scale across a dozen different cultures and languages?
Their timing, post-MiCA license, is impeccable. It gives them a stamp of regulatory legitimacy that’s pure gold for marketing. But the road ahead is about trust and simplicity. If they can make the experience seamless and the value proposition clear—preserving purchasing power—they have a shot. If Bitcoin enters another brutal crypto winter, though, convincing people to auto-save into a falling asset will be an uphill battle. This €12.9 million is a war chest not just for features, but for a massive, multi-market education campaign. Let’s see if it pays off.
