The new startup out of San Francisco, QuickCoin, has created the first of its kind bitcoin social wallet that allows users to initiate bitcoin transactions through web-based platforms such as Facebook. The goal is to make bitcoin less daunting to users who may not have been exposed to the digital currency previously. QuickCoin is hoping that through its simple web-based integration, beginning with Facebook, that it will provide an easy yet simple way for people to send and receive bitcoin without having to necessarily understand what is happening behind the scenes.
If you’re intrigued by Bitcoin but daunted by how transactions work, there’s an app for that—and it’s on Facebook. QuickCoin lets users move the cryptocurrency around for free through the social network. It’s a simple process of logging into an account, choosing a Facebook friend and sending bitcoin. The accounts, called “social wallets,” display bitcoin in U.S. dollars and in “bits,” which are defined as 0.000001 bitcoin. That means US$5 would show up as roughly 8,548 bits instead of a fraction of one bitcoin. One bitcoin was worth about $583 on Tuesday, according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin tracking index. The app is designed to work on any device or platform and is being positioned as a way of simplifying Bitcoin for mainstream adoption since Facebook claims 1.28 billion active monthly users. “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?” QuickCoin cofounder Marshall Hayner said in an online chat.