Purse.io Partners Coinsecure to Push Bitcoin Adoption with Amazon Discounts

Bitcoin startup Purse.io, an online marketplace that enables discounts on Amazon with payments in bitcoin has announced a new partnership with Coinsecure, a prominent Indian bitcoin exchange.

Announced yesterday, the new collaboration comes during a time when demand for bitcoin is increasing in India following the controversial demonetization drive in early November. The tie-up is a marked effort by Purse to expand in India during these cash-strapped times. This is in addition to its existing partnership with another major Indian bitcoin exchange, Unocoin.

Coinsecure’s own announcement added:

Purse.io also makes it possible to buy products from Amazon at a discount. You automatically get 15% off on products on Amazon when shopping with the Coinsecure/Purse.io partnership!

Purse works by leveraging unspent gift card liquidity as discounts to Amazon customers, matching shoppers with individuals who have illiquid gift card balances.  Amazon’s Mechanical Turk sees such individuals performing manual tasks that cannot be fulfilled by computers. With a majority of these workers based outside the U.S. their payout choices are constricting, particularly with Amazon gift card balances or a USD check in the mail. Purse helps these individuals by converting their gift card balance into a payout in their local currency, via bitcoin.

Purse’s announcement adds:

Amazon Mechanical Turk workers continue to need ways to liquidate their excess Amazon gift credit as well. With over 500,000 people working through their Mechanical Turk service, Purse is an excellent way for those users to cash their credit out for bitcoin, where they can easily sell for INR through a local exchange like Coinsecure.

Meanwhile, Amazon India has, according to reports today, gained a massive $300 million in investment from its parent Amazon Inc. The investment is the single largest fund infusion by Amazon in its Indian arm as the retail giant looks to outpace its rivals in one of the world’s fastest-growing online retail markets.

Image from Shutterstock.