Topic: Abine launches Bitcoin Anywhere (beta) (Read 1092 times)

Abine launches “Bitcoin Anywhere” (a new beta service)
Coinbase users can spend Bitcoin anywhere online

March 04, 2015 – BOSTON - Abine, the online privacy company, today announced a new beta service designed to help Bitcoin users more fully participate in online commerce.  The invite-only beta will enable Bitcoin to Abine Masked Card purchases at any merchant.  As the Bitcoin economy goes mainstream, there is an increasing need to be able to use Bitcoin at more places, provided that spending is ultimately compliant and is for legitimate e-commerce purposes.  “What we aim to achieve is to assess consumer demand for a purchasing experience that balances innovation, convenience, compliance, and security,” said Andrew Sudbury, Abine co-founder and CTO. 

To signup for the beta program: http://dnt.abine.com/#blurbitcoin

The beta program is limited to users of the popular Coinbase Bitcoin wallet and users must also use Abine’s Blur premium service (Blur lets anyone control their passwords, payments, and privacy).  By linking Blur together with a Bitcoin wallet, a more accepted and more contextual Bitcoin-based e-commerce experience is possible.

Abine plans to share the results of the beta program with key Bitcoin companies, influencers, and regulators in order to inform the ecosystem about the potential for broadening the pace of Bitcoin acceptance – from beyond the 85,000 merchants who accept Bitcoin payments today. 

Everyone wants to know how Bitcoin would fare if it were more widely accepted by merchants.  Leading VC’s who have invested in Bitcoin like Andreesen Horowitz, Lightspeed, Index, and Khosla Ventures are ultimately betting that consumers will come use Bitcoin if it is accepted more broadly. Similarly, the big Bitcoin startups like Coinbase, Circle, Bitpay, Bitfury, and Xapo are betting on wide acceptance catalyzing mainstream use. 


Blur with Bitcoin
Blur -Abine’s password, payments, and privacy solution- goes beyond Bitcoin wallets to give users other simple ways to be more private and secure online. With one click or finger tap, Blur generates a new email address, strong unique password, and or one-time use secure credit card (masked card) that is sent to the site or merchant instead of the consumer’s real private information. Consumers thereby remain in full control of their real personal info while still being able to interact normally with popular web sites and services.  Blur also automatically blocks hundreds of tracking companies from secretly collecting detailed data about what people do daily online.

Blur comes in free and premium versions (Premium costs less than $4 per month).  Blur premium service includes a new private phone number, unlimited new masked credit cards, as well as the ability to add and sync unlimited mobile devices to an account for one subscription price. To download and use Blur immediately, visit www.abine.com.

About Abine
Abine is the online privacy company. Abine has for years been committed to providing consumers with innovative and comprehensive privacy solutions meant for everyday web users. Abine’s solutions have been trusted by over 25 million people worldwide to protect and control their passwords, payments, privacy, and identity.

Contact
We’re very excited about this launch and believe it is just what the marketplace needs. With this integration, Coinbase users will be able to use Bitcoin to make purchases *at any online retailer* - something not possible before now.  This is a step in the right directions for consumers, bitcoin, and secure payments and we hope you don’t miss out on covering this opportunity.  If you are a journalist, we would love for you to cover this story, and if you'd like I can help you set up some time to speak with our CEO, Rob Shavell, or CTO Andrew Sudbury to discuss this launch in more detail.  Please contact [email protected] for more information.