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Mobile commerce begins colliding with BitCoins

Dan Gendro | May 21, 2013

BitCoins could have a bright future in mobile commerce

Virtual currency is gaining more popularity as consumers become more reliant on technology. BitCoins are considered the most popular of the virtual currencies that are currently available. These digital coins are exceedingly valuable, with a single coin being worth more than $240 at the height of its value. Virtual currencies are quite useful in the realm of mobile commerce, but they represent a certain risk in terms of a country’s economy because they are not strictly regulated like other currencies.

US agencies consider virtual currency threatening

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security considers BitCoins to be a serious threat. This currency is often used to purchase regular products from outlets like Amazon and eBay. BitCoins can, however, be used to purchase goods off the black market and are one of the ideal currencies in the drug trade. The federal agency recently seized the assets of Mt. Gox, the world’s largest BitCoin exchange, but this has done little to draw attention from the mobile commerce prospects of this currency.

BitPay aims to make BitCoins more mobile

BitPay, a relatively new startup focused on virtual currencies, has recently launched a new mobile commerce service. The company has announced that it has raised more than $2 million in funding for this initiative and aims to have it available to consumers in the near future. The new service will allow consumers to use BitCoins in a mobile commerce setting, offering consumers a way to use this currency on their mobile devices. BitPay believes that it is only a matter of time before BitCoins become as popular as email.

Mobile commerce may benefit from virtual currencies

BitPay has been in business since 2011, but the company has been relatively secretive since its founding. BitPay offers legal services that are often frowned upon given the association that BitCoins have with illegal activities and products. BitCoins themselves are not actually illegal in any way and have been gaining a significant amount of attention in the mobile commerce field as a way to encourage consumers to purchase products through their mobile devices.

Mobile payments help eBay transcend commerce

Denny | May 20, 2013

Retailer becomes more than mobile payments and e-commerce

Acclaimed online retailer eBay has established a formidable presence in the mobile commerce sector. The company has been one of the strongest supporters of mobile payments and has made extraordinary efforts to encourage consumers to use their mobile devices to shop online and purchase products. As eBay continues to assimilate mobile payments, the company is beginning to consider itself as something more than a simple retailer: eBay is beginning to envision itself as commerce itself.

Executive suggests that eBay represents commerce itself

The company’s Europe vice president of marketing, Alexander von Schirmeister, recently spoke about the company’s role in the retail sector. According to Schirmeister, eBay has begun to trannscend the boundaries of e-commerce, partly due to the company’s strong focus on the mobile space. Mobile payments have helped eBay break into new markets and engage a new generation of consumers in a more dynamic fashion. According to Schirmeister, eBay “is not m-commerce or e-commerce, it’s commerce period.”

Fluid nature of company makes it accommodating to the needs of consumers

Schirmeister notes that eBay has become capable of adapting to the different ways that people shop and pay for products so effectively that they can no longer be considered a company with a specific focus in terms of commerce. In the past, eBay had only been capable of accommodating the needs of online shoppers that used traditional desktop computers. As mobile technology grew more prominent, however, the company began seeing a transition in the world of commerce and adjusted itself accordingly. This has allowed eBay to put more focus on mobile payments, which are quickly becoming more popular around the world.

Mobile payments can help close the gap between online and offline worlds

Because eBay has begun to see its role in the retail sector evolve, it has been making moves to close the gap between the online and offline worlds. Mobile payments are expected to help significantly in this endeavor, as they allow the retailer to engage mobile consumers in the physical world without severing their ties to the Internet.