By
Bhushan Akolkar
August 29th, 2022
A new bitcoin payment app Fold will soon allow its users sending bitcoin by producing scannable barcodes.
Fold, a new mobile bitcoin payments app created by the developers of Card for Coin and Coin For Coffee, allows users making bitcoin payments via a mobile app that includes various point-of-sale (POS) systems.
Fold enables users to spend bitcoin by making scannable barcodes like those on traditional gift cards. In comparison with Coin For Coffee, which focused only on Starbucks locations, Fold will allow payments at US largest retailer Target and at the coffee seller as well.
Speaking to CoinDesk, Card For Coin co-founder and CEO Matt Luongo, said that beta version of the app is under development. The team used both the positive and negative experience obtained during Coin For Coffee development. He said: “We learned with Coin For Coffee. We confirmed our hypothesis that people want to spend their bitcoin, which is fantastic, and so far, I think we’ve run through most of the strange situations you can get.”
Luongo added that the developers communicated with the leading brands, most notably Starbucks, which has been helpful during the developmental process.
Fold will operate as a bitcoin wallet, enabling users to load money on the card and then use them for making purchases. Luongo said that Fold will let users to avoid problems associated with products like Xapo bitcoin debit card.
At first, the users have to select the sum they want to spend and then the app will create a barcode that is scanned at the register. The remained bitcoins are sent back to the wallet.
As Luongo said, since the development of Coin For Coffee, conversations with Starbucks have advanced as the company showed interest in the virtual currency and a desire to learn more about bitcoin and Coin For Coffee’s experience.
After the first launch, Fold intends to seek other merchants who may be interested in cooperation through commonly used gift card technology.
“There is a huge opportunity here to go after any merchant that uses similar gift card technology. Most of these merchants aren’t ready to tackle [bitcoin] yet, but they’re very interested to see what numbers we have and what issues we run into,” Luongo said.
The Fold team has invited prospective users to sign up for updates and will soon start sending invitations.
Luongo noted the new app launch is supported by fan base and Coin For Coffee’s users, what is very important for the project success. Several hundreds of people have already signed up to receive information.
Luongo also added: “Ultimately, I think that gift cards and mobile are a lot more akin to cryptocurrency than these old card-based systems.”
