Fastbitcoins tackles Bitcoin challenges with first partnerships

Fastbitcoins, a service that lets people buy Bitcoins in physical retail outlets using cash, has signed its first strategic partnerships since launching earlier this year. It says that the Bitrefill, Breez and Samourai tie ups will help it to “move closer to creating an ecosystem for making buying, spending and storing Bitcoin as simple and seamless as possible for the everyday person”.

Bitrefill will offer its 130,000 strong customer base Fastbitcoins.com voucher redemption codes as a way to purchase and gift Bitcoin without needing to use a traditional exchange or ATM. These vouchers let customers redeem the cryptocurrency directly into Lighting Network wallets; customers can even choose to send them directly to any regular Bitcoin address. Additionally, Bitrefill will enable Fastbitcoins users to buy digital gift cards from over 130 brands, including Apple, Amazon and Google Play.

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There will also be the option to add Bitcoins to the Breez app and use it to pay friends or merchants in real-time via the Lightning Network. They can also buy FastBitcoins vouchers in the app’s marketplace. And finally, there’s the ability to redeem vouchers and have them delivered directly into their wallet, through the Samourai wallet interface. Samourai is also launching its own hardware solutions to enable users additional levels of privacy. Access will be available after the 1.0 release of the wallet.

“Bitcoin is seen as mainstream today only from a speculators point of view. But people do not fully understand the benefits of using it as a currency yet – at a top level it’s cash for the internet and cheaper to transact with on the Lightning Network than with regular money. The reason why adoption has been slow is a solid bridge connecting it to the real economy doesn’t exist,” says Danny Brewster, former MD at Neo & Bee and now head honcho at Fastbitcoins.

“As a result, obtaining Bitcoin easily and safely, and being able to spend it on things we want is slow, disjointed and unreliable. With our partnerships with Bitrefill, Breez and Samourai, we will start to overcome these challenges, creating a seamless link between the digital currency and the real world. Once these worlds are joined up people can truly realise the full potential of Bitcoin.”