US company eGifter is to triple its digital currency payment options and start accepting both dogecoin and litecoin, thanks to a new partnership with payments platform GoCoin.
eGifter already accepts bitcoin for its gift cards that give customers access to over 100 brands – including big name retailers like Amazon, Gap and Walmart – and the new additions will be welcomed by those with some altcoins to spend.
While there is already a large and fast-expanding base of merchants that accept bitcoin, dogecoin and litecoin are far less represented and, in doge’s case, used more for microtransactions such as tipping on reddit or charitable fundraising campaigns.
However, while it initially started more as a joke than a viable digital currency, dogecoin has taken off and seen an unexpected climb in value. Although the price of 1 DOGE pales in comparison with 1 BTC, its success has provided it with growing clout in the world of commerce and makes its inclusion on the GoCoin platform a logical step.
Furthermore, providing gift cards that can be purchased with these altcoins suddenly vastly increases the merchants that can be accessed by this underrepresented market.
Painless process
Singapore-based GoCoin added litecoin payments back in January, and only started accepting dogecoin this month.
Steve Beauregard, founder and CEO of GoCoin told CoinReport:
“We are thrilled to see key merchants in the bitcoin eco-system embrace the [altcoins] and their unique communities. Together with eGifter, we are building bridges between retail shopping and digital currency communities.”
The partnership means that eGifter does not need to be involved with digital currencies directly. GoCoin accepts the crypto-coins from the customer, coverts them into fiat and then passes this onto the merchant.
In this way, eGifter has little of the technical and security hassle involved with taking and storing bitcoins, and is also protected from the digital currencies’ volatility by the instant conversion into cash.
The move also means that, should either altcoin take off in a big way, the company is primed to reap the rewards.
Rise of the gift card
eGifter is one of several gift card companies that have recently made it much easier for bitcoin-weilding shoppers to gain access to the many big retailers still without a cryptocurrency payments option.
SnapCard gives bitcoiners access to Amazon and eBay, and even lets customers to pay their IRS tax bill in the digital currency too.
Gyft, a similar service, offers customers access to retailers such as Walmart and to buy Dell computers with bitcoin, should they desire.
However, as these companies are bitcoin-only, opening up the gift card market to the litecoin and dogecoin communities may prove a shrewd move by eGifter.