Shopping using cryptocurrencies is a hot-button topic right now — but how do you find the keys to the kingdom of crypto e-commerce? Here, Cointelegraph talks to Shopping.io CEO Arbel Arif about his vision for the future, the milestones that have been achieved since the platform launched six months ago, and the high-profile partnerships that have been instrumental for the site’s success. 1. Hello! Can you describe Shopping.io in a nutshell? Shopping.io is the bridge between crypto and retail. We are the leading provider of mainstream e-commerce solutions in crypto. We are the only company that offers you the ability …

Advertising and marketing are at the center of the economy — but more often than not, existing practices can end up being grossly inefficient. One platform that is using cryptocurrencies to deliver better results for big brands is Wabi. Here, co-founder and CEO Alex Busarov explains how its approach compares with traditional forms of marketing… and how consumers benefit. 1. Hello! Can you tell us briefly what Wabi does? Wabi is a unit of value exchange between brands and consumers, and it works like a supercharged loyalty point. Consumers participating in our ecosystem get incentives in Wabi points, while brands …

A blockchain marketplace app is taking on the likes of eBay, Amazon and Depop — and is vowing to give back to buyers and sellers alike. Curate is designed to deliver an all-in-one experience for online shopping. As well as supporting credit and debit cards and transactions via PayPal, purchases can also be made using Bitcoin, Ether and Curate tokens. One of the project’s main goals is to deliver a fairer deal to merchants who are dealing with razor-thin profit margins. Through Curate, a flat 4% commission will be charged on sales — far less than the fees charged by …

Bitcoin rewards app, Lolli, has announced the close of its pre-series A fundraising round after raising $5 million. The round saw investment from a diverse array of participants, including Seven Seven Six — the venture capital firm co-founded by Reddit executive chairman Alexis Ohanian — Serena Williams’ Serena Ventures, management company Night Media, and various social media influencers. The funds will be allocated towards developing Lolli’s mobile application, scaling to support a growing user base, and international expansion. Launched in 2018, Lolli has teamed up with more than 1,000 merchants including Priceline and Macy’s to provide their customers with the …

American e-commerce giant Amazon is developing a new service that will allow its customers to shop using digital currency, according to the company’s job postings. According to an official job application on Amazon, the company is now building a tech team to enable a new digital currency service. Currently known as a “Digital and Emerging Payments,” or DEP, project, the service will initially roll out in Mexico, allowing local people to buy crypto with cash to spend digital currency while shopping. The job posting reads: “We are looking for a leader to help us launch a new payment product starting …

Decentralized finance and shopping seem like an unusual combination at first. How can liquidity pools help you save money at the till? But scratch a little deeper and some compelling use cases for DeFi emerge. With the retail sector suffering through one of the most challenging times seen in a generation, here are the main issues facing e-commerce right now… and how DeFi could fix them. A match made in heaven? The likes of Amazon, eBay and Shopify have transformed the way we buy everyday items. Now, anyone can become a merchant — and once exotic products can be delivered …

Gamified shopping loyalty platform StormX will now let its users earn cashback in cryptocurrencies when shopping at Walmart. According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph on August 14, StormX users can now earn up to 4% cashback in crypto for purchases made at Walmart. Users who achieve a “Diamond” rank can earn up to 14%. StormX CEO Simon Yu said that he believes this Walmart partnership will bring new users to the service: “As the only crypto cashback program for Walmart worldwide, we are confident that users will take advantage of the rewards program to earn their favorite cryptocurrency while …

Could Bitcoin be a credit card killer? Yes, according to one international furniture brand that has started accepting crypto as a payment method. Beliani is a European web-only retailer and manufacturer of modern affordable furniture and home accessories. It began allowing people to make purchases using Bitcoin (BTC), Ripple (XRP), Ether (ETH) and USD Coin (USDC) in the fourth quarter of 2019, the combined total of which represents 1%–2% of overall sales. For the company, digital assets represent a significant untapped opportunity, given how the crypto space has an “enormous” $250-billion market cap. Beliani’s main challenge has been raising customer …

Bitcoin (BTC) rewards company Lolli announced on Monday the close of an oversubscribed $3 million seed-II funding round led by Pathfinder and investors such as Michelle Phan, Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary. According to the announcement, the funding will help launch the company’s mobile application and expand it internationally, with a tentative launch date for the summer. Lolli assures that the app will allow greater accessibility to Bitcoin, allowing users to earn from merchants on both web and mobile. Making Bitcoin “more accessible” through rewards Speaking with Cointelegraph, Alex Adelman, the CEO and co-founder of Lolli, praised the funding — …

A crypto payment gateway is offering an easy way for merchants to integrate digital currencies into their websites. Coinremitter says its service is so simple that it can be set up by anyone and activated quickly — with powerful security ensuring funds are kept safe. The company’s payment gateway offers support for major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin and Tether, along with more niche alternatives such as Dogecoin and Dash. According to Coinremitter, no ID or bank account is required to establish a payment gateway that is global, anonymous, free of chargebacks and “zero risk.” Once an account has …

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has partnered with Bitcoin (BTC) rewards shopping app Lolli, enabling its shoppers to earn 5% back in Bitcoin. Alibaba customers can now get Satoshis (sats), the smallest unit of Bitcoin currency, worth 0.00000001 BTC, when shopping “thousands of items online,” Lolli says. World’s biggest retailer and biggest one-day shopping event The partnership was announced on Singles Day, a shopping holiday that is celebrated in China on Nov. 11 and is considered to be the world’s biggest one-day shopping event. According to Lolli, Alibaba shoppers spent more than $31 billion on Singles Day in 2018. Alex Adelman, …

A crypto payment infrastructure provider is celebrating after reaching an important milestone: achieving a presence in more than 500 stores across Slovenia and Croatia. GoCrypto, the newly upgraded platform that succeeded Eligma’s Elipay, is now setting its sights on expanding to other parts of Europe: namely Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Serbia and Bulgaria. The company says it provides online and offline stores with an easy way of accepting custodial and noncustodial crypto wallets — giving them access to an ever-growing number of consumers who want to pay using digital currencies. According to GoCrypto, payments are processed instantaneously, with merchants …