Bitcoin, the popular cryptocurrency, has made its way into Facebook Wallet through a startup app QuickCoin optimized for all platforms which lets users transfer Bitcoins for free in simple steps.
The process just requires users to log in and choose a Friend to whom they want to send Bitcoin. The Social Wallets account now has Bitcoin added to it in US dollar valuation. A sum of $5 will be 8,548 bits, while 1 bitcoin was valued as $583, according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin tracking index.
The move is said to be a part of the efforts to make more people use Bitcoin. The service has first launched in Facebook as the social network has an active monthly userbase of more than 1.28 billion. QuickCoin has also expressed intentions of extending the service to other social media platforms in the future.
QuickCoin cofounder Marshall Hayner said, “You don’t need to know how DNS works to surf the internet, so why should you have to know how Bitcoin works to use Bitcoin?”
“The answer is clear: you shouldn’t have to. We realized if we could make something that makes sense for everyone to use, we could reach a large audience with an amazing world-changing technology, and that’s what we seek to do.”
The app doesn’t require Facebook’s approval although it runs on Facebook’s Application Programming Interface (API. It’s already been a week since it started using Facebook’s API and the social network has not contacted QuickCoin regarding this and hence it is implicit that the company can continue to do so without a formal, written consent from Facebook.
The app service is currently almost free, except for a 5cent fee per transaction. Hayner said that the company is looking forward to adding more users and monetize in the future.
