One of the things the Bitcoin ecosystem still struggles with is making it easy to understand and acquire Bitcoins. For those among us who have more “experience in the field”, that is hardly ever a concern. But if we want to grow the number of people making up the Bitcoin network, something has to change. Maybe a Whatsapp Personal Assistant can do the trick?
Mexican Bitcoin Exchange Volabit
When talking about Bitcoin exchanges, most of the names you will come across are located in the US, Europe or Asia. But South America, and more specifically Mexico, has a Bitcoin exchange of its own, called Volabit. Based in Puerto Vallarta, Bitcoin-startup Volabit is slowly making a name for itself in the world of digital currency.
As you would come to expect from a Bitcoin exchange, Volabit’s main goal is to make Bitcoin more accessible to the everyday consumer and, in Mexico, they are taking things one step further, as you can now purchase Bitcoin by depositing cash at major retailers such as 7-Eleven, OXXO or a Banamex branch or ATM.
And that is not all, as Volabit has also partnered with BTCJam, an Australia-based peer-to-peer Bitcoin lending network. Do keep in mind that lending your money to strangers always brings certain risks to the table. However, despite all of that, if you are in luck, you can earn up to 20% interest on your Bitcoin loan, which is far higher compared to anything a bank can offer you today.
Creating Everyday Use Cases
The cherry on top comes in the form of Volabit’s new service, called Jamie. Jamie is a service for Whatsapp, one of the world’s most popular social messaging applications to date. Through Jamie, Volabit users can pay their utility bills and other expenses with Bitcoin, instantly creating a ton of additional use cases for this disruptive digital currency.
To use Jamie, Volabit users need to take a picture of the bill they wish to pay with Bitcoin and send it to the dedicated phone number by using the Whatsapp social messaging app. As soon as you confirm you want to pay the bill, the amount of Bitcoin owed to pay the bill in Mexican pesos will be deducted from your Volabit account balance. It is important to note Jamie can not be used to pay just any bill, as the amount of services covered is still pretty limited at this point.
Jamie is not the first mobile phone personal assistant to see the light of day. Popular services such as TaskRabbit and Magic allow consumers to send a text message and order anything they need. And in China, there is a similar service to Jamie, called WeSecretary, which makes use of the WeChat social messaging application.
Source: Press Release via Email
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Volabit and Jamie
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