Cryptocurrency investors in Australia will now be able to purchase bitcoin and ethereum in-store from over 1,200 newsagents spread throughout the country. All they will need is a minimum $50 investment in cash, a phone number, and an email ID.
The new initiative was rolled out by the crypto exchange bitcoin.com.au following extensive preparations going all the way back to mid-2016. Over the past one-and-a-half years, the company has laid out a network of in-store crypto buying infrastructure across the country.
According to Rupert Hackett, Chief Executive at bitcoin.com.au, the availability of cryptocurrencies in physical stores will help them gain the trust of many consumers – especially the first-time investors who had been on the borderline because of trust issues emanating from the digitally-exclusive availability of cryptocurrencies.
“When your product is totally digital it can be hard to gain trust from consumers because there’s no tangible product being handed over… Using newsagents provides consumers with a convenient and trusted way for investors to buy cryptocurrency,” Hackett said in a conversation with the media.
“Traditionally, the only people who knew about Ethereum or wanted to buy it were those who already had bought Bitcoin. But now that cryptocurrency is more well-known we found that Ethereum’s cheaper price point made it a more digestible value proposition for buyers,” he added.
Additionally, the move will also encourage potential buyers who have so far refrained from investing in cryptocurrencies because of all the complicated purchase/sell procedures.
How to Buy Bitcoin, Ethereum In-store
In order to use bitcoin.com.au’s in-store crypto buying infrastructure, you first need to download a digital wallet. It can be any digital wallet that can store bitcoin and ethereum. You can download a trusted digital currency wallet on your phone, a more secure wallet on your desktop, or an even more secure “cold-storage” wallet at home.
Once you have your wallet up and running, you can scan a QR code using an iPad mini at one of the more than 1,200 newsagents in the country and then get through with the transaction from there.
The company claims that the average transaction won’t require more than 20 minutes to complete, i.e. the purchased bitcoin or ethereum will be in your digital wallet in less than one-third of the hour.
As an introductory offer, the exchange did not charge any transaction fee on the purchases made on March 1, 2018. However, starting March 2, 2018, consumers will have to pay a transaction fee of five percent on every purchase.
To know the location of your nearest bitcoin.com.au in-store bitcoin/ethereum buying facility, refer to this interactive map of newsagents available across the country.