Founder: Prashanth Chandrashekar
Date Founded: March 2023
Location of Headquarters: Lithuania
Number of Employees: 3 full-time, 3 contract workers
Website: https://bringin.xyz/
Public or Private? Private
With Bringin, it’s now easier than ever to live on a bitcoin standard in Europe.
The web app (and soon-to-be-released mobile app) enables users to almost instantly convert bitcoin from either a base chain or Lightning wallet to a virtual Visa debit card that can be used wherever Visa is accepted.
Bringin’s founder Prashanth Chandrashekar conceptualized the product after struggling to convert his bitcoin into euros.
“Two years ago while living in Estonia, I used to get paid in bitcoin, and it took almost four days to liquidate the bitcoin and get euros into Revolut to spend,” Chandrashekar told Bitcoin Magazine.
[Author’s note: When Chandrashekar uses the term “liquidate,” he’s referring to converting bitcoin into fiat.]
“That’s why I wanted to build a tool that allows users to liquidate Bitcoin. I think liquidating bitcoin instantly and being able to use bitcoin is one of the key factors for getting the value of bitcoin into the world today,” he added.
What Chandrashekar and his team have built is comparable to a service like Bitrefill, though more dynamic, and it has more capabilities.
How Bringin Works
Bringin operates in all countries that use the euro, and it lets users convert bitcoin in a Lightning wallet into euros in under a minute. (On-chain transactions take longer, approximately 10 minutes, as they need to be confirmed on the blockchain.)
To most efficiently convert bitcoin into euros, users simply pay a Lightning invoice denominated in the amount of euros they want on their virtual debit card and those euros become available for spending soon after.
On the back-end, the process looks like this: Bringin issues each of its users a virtual IBAN (International Bank Account Number). This number is then used to interface with the SEPA system, which enables users in the Euro Zone to make cashless euro payments.
Using SEPA Instant Credit Transfers, which enable transfers of up to 15,000 euros in under 10 seconds, in conjunction with Lightning payments, users can convert their bitcoin into euros in almost no time flat.
Chandrashekar illustrated how quickly this all takes place in a recent X post:
I just Booked a cab with SATs on my @getAlby node!Using @bringinxyz debit card!Living on Bitcoin standard has never been easier than now! Pre-order one for yourself today! You will get access in days. Link 👇 user code BTCTOTHEMOON to get 10% off 🚀 pic.twitter.com/fliHbS6Z6J
— Prashanth (@prashanthc123) January 31, 2025
Users must go through the KYC process to use the service, though, Bringin never custodies user funds, which means that Bringing users can opt to use non-custodial Bitcoin or Lightning wallets.
“You can use your Alby Hub and liquidate directly into the debit card using Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC),” explained Chandrashekar. “We’ve created a more direct link between your self-custody wallet and your bank account.”
The Road To Bringin
Chandrashekar began developing Bringin in September 2022 (though, he didn’t incorporate until March 2023).
Before working on this product, he was employed by the now defunct Lastbit, which aimed to solve a similar problem.
“We were building consumer-facing payment applications for Europe,” said Chandrashekar. “The application allowed users to buy bitcoin instantly, make and receive Lightning payments, and we also shipped a MasterCard debit card that could be funded with Lightning transactions.”
Chandrashekar shared that the project was scrapped, though, due to a number of difficulties.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t scale the service,” he said. “We were too early, and there were a lot of compliance hurdles.”
Not wanting to give up on creating a product like Lastbit, Chandrashekar moved to Estonia with some members of the Lastbit team, obtained the proper licenses and began building Bringin.
“Lastbit pivoted from building a consumer application to being more of an infrastructure company, providing tool links for other companies to build on top of it,” explained Chandrashekar.
So, at that time, I was still working with the company and helping them with the infrastructure, but I felt the need to build a consumer product that allowed people to do what Lastbit initially aimed to accomplish,” he added.
“So, I hopped out and started my own venture to help consumers and other Bitcoiners who had a problem like mine.”
A Third Generation Exchange
Bringin not only serves as a bitcoin off-ramp, but an on-ramp, as well.
“Users can use Lightning addresses to buy Bitcoin,” explained Chandrashekar. “Today, you can go to Bringin, enter “10 euros,” “prashant@alby.com,” “Send funds” and the sats appear in your Alby Hub.”
(Users can connect with any wallet that supports NWC. Bringin also enables transfers using Blink wallet, and intends to expand their integrations, according to Chandrashekar.)
Because Bringin can facilitate these types of seamless transactions between non-custodial wallets and the traditional banking and payment rails, Chandrashekar conceptualizes Bringin as a “third generation” exchange.
“There have been multiple generations of exchanges,” he began.
“Originally, we saw all kinds of exchanges where you place a limit order, check the order book and make a purchase. That evolved into a mobile wallet like Venmo, which is custodial, where you instantly swap for bitcoin. That was the second generation of exchanges,” he added.
“Bringin is a third generation exchange, because it’s not a custodial solution where you put funds and then swap it and the bitcoin stays in the custody of the exchange. It allows not only for instant swapping, but also takes care of movement of funds from the banking system to the Bitcoin and Lightning networks.”
Bringin’s Roadmap
Moving forward, Chandrashekar plans to streamline Bringin’s operations while broadening the services the platform offers.
Currently, Bringin works with a partner business to issue and manage debit cards, but Chandrashekar would like to change that.
“Right now, we are a distributor and technology provider, and we don’t have direct partnership with Visa, so we white label our partner’s debit cards,” explained Chandrashekar. “But we eventually want to get our direct partnership with Visa.”
Chandrashekar also looks forward to onboarding more merchants, as the company already makes it easy for businesses to begin employing Bringin.
“We have integrations with BTCPay Server and Opago Pay,” said Chandrashekar. “Merchants can receive Bitcoin payments and instantly convert a part of it or the whole payment into euros via a Bringin IBAN account.”
And Chandrashekar is working to partner Bringin with a bitcoin borrowing and lending platform.
“The intent here is that the users can provide bitcoin as collateral and receive loans in euros,” he explained, adding that most Bitcoin borrowing and lending services only offer loans in US dollars or US dollar stablecoins.
Beyond these plans, Chandrashekar remains motivated to continue to improve Bringin’s on-ramping technology.
“You need to get bitcoin into your favorite wallet, and there’s a huge amount of friction there,” he said. “Our intention is to get bitcoin to everyone by allowing users to get bitcoin directly into the wallet of their choosing with no friction whatsoever, directly from the bank.”
