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Blockchain announces 10 Millionth Bitcoin Wallet, Unveils new features

The surprise victory of Donald Trump in the just concluded U.S. elections is one of the biggest Black Swan events of 2016. In fact, it would be hard to choose the event that is most likely to change the face of the world between the Brexit vote and the emergence of Trump as president-elect of the United States. However, investors are seeking refuge in safe-haven assets and alternative assets in order to protect themselves from the uncertainties that might be unleashed on the global scene.

Soon after the U.S elections, Peter Smith, CEO of Blockchain revealed that there’s a marked uptrend in the number of people embracing Bitcoin since Trump emerged as president. Blockchain is a London-based provider of Bitcoin wallet services; hence, Smith has ringside seats to the ebb and flow of interest in Bitcoin. Peter observed that “We’re setting a new record pretty much every day since the election in terms of activity on the platform.

Blockchain opens its 10 millionth Bitcoin wallet

blockchain-logoBreaking news out of the Bitcoin industry reveals that Blockchain has opened it 10 millionth digital wallet for Bitcoin. The news comes barely two weeks after Bitcoin CEO, Peter Smith revealed the growing interest in the cryptocurrency after Trump’s surprise victory. He noted that people are using Bitcoin as a hedge against economic instability against the backdrop a Brexit vote in Europe and a Trump presidency in the U.S.

In an emailed statement, Smith observed that “Hitting this milestone (ten millionth wallet) at this particular moment isn’t a coincidence. In the wake of the Brexit vote, the US Presidential election and a weakening Yuan, we have seen unprecedented levels of activity and transaction on our platform, which further suggests that people are embracing the need for a more globally accessible currency system, and one that does not exclude over one-third of the world’s population.

Bitcoin stakeholders won’t be in the least bit surprised that Blockchain is recording such a massive uptrend in its signups. Blockchain provides Bitcoin owners with software that they can download to their computer. The software serves as a digital wallet for storing Bitcoin. The best part is that the Bitcoin your Blockchain wallet is localized on your computer. Blockchain has also revealed that it processes about 150,000 Bitcoin transactions per day.

Buy and sell Bitcoin directly from your digital wallet

Blockchain is not resting its oars on the provision of digital wallets for holding Bitcoin, the firm has recently announced a new feature that lets people buy and sell Bitcoin directly from their wallets. In the years past, you can only deposit your Bitcoin with online exchanges but you can’t engage directly in buying or selling of the cryptocurrency.

Smith notes that the most interesting fact about the Bitcoin wallet that Blockchain provides is the ease and speed of transactions. In his words,

“what’s more exciting from an industry perspective is at the moment if you buy Bitcoin, it’s kind of like a 2 to 3 day experience. You buy them and 2-5 days later you actually get them. It’s a little weird. What’s really exciting about this product if you get the bitcoin instantly, you pay for them and about 5-6 minutes later you get them.”

Blockchain’s CEO from two years ago

With iPayYou, It’s Getting Much Easier To Buy Stuff on Amazon Using Bitcoin

Bitcoin investors, traders, and stakeholders would be heading out for the Thanksgiving holidays with a piece of good news today. iPayYou has just announced a way for consumers to buy items on Amazon using Bitcoin through  a service called Amazon Direct. Amazon Direct makes it easier to shop on the world’s biggest online store for everything using Bitcoin.  More so, the service is another step forward in the bid to make Bitcoin the default currency of the world.

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Here’s how to shop on Amazon using Bitcoin

Now, you can shop on Amazon using iPayYou – you can easily transfer any amount of Bitcoin from your BTC wallet to Amazon. With Amazon Direct, all you need to do is to transfer your Bitcoin to the required account and voila, you’ll have USD in your Amazon account to spend when shopping. The launching of Amazon Direct at this time is strategic and it will meet the needs of shoppers just in time for the holidays.

The National Retail Federation has forecasted that U.S. shoppers will spend an average of $935.58 during this year’s holiday season. The average spend by shoppers in the 2016 holiday season is 3.6% more than the average spending in the 2015 holiday season. More interesting is the fact that the federation submits that online sales will increase by 10% this year to $117 billon. A decent part of that holiday spending can now be spent using Bitcoin through Amazon Direct.

Gene Kavner, the current CEO of iPayYou is a former worldwide director at Amazon and he knows the right doors to knock. In a press release, Kavner observed that “during my time as an executive at Amazon, we closely studied the friction points and obstacles faced by shoppers, including and especially with payments. Bitcoin is a solution to so many of those problems. That’s why today, in time for the holiday season, we’re launching the most direct way to spend bitcoin anywhere, starting with the world’s largest retailer.”

Here’s what happens under the hood with Amazon Direct

From the foregoing, it is obvious that Amazon Direct provides simple way to shop on Amazon using a Bitcoin wallet. Most users won’t really know about the heavy lifting that goes on under the hood before they can shop on Amazon with Bitcoin. Here’s what we know about what goes on under the hood of Amazon Direct.

To start with, Amazon Direct works because iPayYou purchases digital gift card balances through a Washington-based firm called ACI. iPayYou then transfers the balances on the gift cards it purchased to your personal Amazon account. Of course, you won’t even know that gift cards were involved in operation of Amazon Direct unless you check through your transaction history on Amazon.

iPayYou however goes a step further to ensure that the value of the USD balance in your Amazon account fluctuates in line with how Bitcoin (BTC) trades in the market. iPayYou is working on  solution to lock in the USD-BTC conversion balance for users who would prefer to have a fixed dollar amount in exchange for their BTC. However, for now, the value of the Amazon balance will fluctuate with Bitcoin prices when you use Amazon direct.

Nonetheless, Amazon Direct remains the best solution for shopping on Amazon with Bitcoin. iPayYou CEO, Gene Kavner observes that “We’ve removed a lot of complexity compared to other options… We actually transfer funds from iPayYou’s bank account to Amazon. They don’t even know it’s bitcoin.”

iPayYou and Amazon – Bitcoin Becomes Useful