Retailer Overstock.com expects to begin selling bitcoin through its website in the first half of 2019. This function will be provided by its subsidiary blockchain company Medici Ventures through the Bitsy cryptocurrency wallet.
In an interview with Forbes, Patrick Byrne, founder and CEO of Overstock, announced the beta launch of the Bitsy wallet and emphasized that the roadmap is to fully integrate the wallet on the Overstock website by early next year.
Byrne also said that the company is not concerned about the market downturn and believes that cryptocurrencies will soon regain their previous share: “The dot-com bubble did not happen because something was wrong With Internet technology, it is the same in the case of cryptocurrency – coins appear and disappear, but blockchain technology remains. And Overstock is going to open up this technology to its retail consumers."
The Bitsy wallet, which will end beta testing by the end of this year, will be a convenient intermediary between fiat and cryptocurrency, offering features useful to both professionals and beginners. The wallet will allow the user to practically physically own coins, rather than simply having a claim on Bitcoin stored on an exchange or other independent custodian. Additionally, ease of use will attract those people who are generally interested in cryptocurrency, but are afraid of some of the complexities and computer jargon.
"Ease of use is our top priority," said Steve Hopkins, Medici's chief operating officer. "We spent a lot of time understanding how people without computer science backgrounds interact with payment applications and how to make the process easier for them."
For example, the wallet will include biometric security measures, namely fingerprint scanning and facial recognition. to verify identity and offer a mechanism to recover keys in case of emergency, thereby reducing the likelihood that funds will be lost forever if the user's phone breaks or is lost.
According to forbes.com
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