Bitwala’s Altcoin Embrace Sees Service Reverting to Bitcoin
Bitwala, a crypto-to-SEPA service that allows fiat currency transfers towards settlements from users who pay in cryptocurrency, has been less than impressed by the public’s response to altcoins after embracing altcoins.
While it plans to continue to support altcoins, Bitwala is planning to focus more on bitcoin, according to a recent blog posted on its website.
The company has asked for input on whether people agree with this change in focus. The blog is titled, “Everybody is excited about altcoins, but nobody is using them.”
A Promising Partnership
In July, Bitwala announced a partnership with Shapeshift.io, making it possible for users to transfer altcoins and bitcoins globally. The Shapeshift.io integration supports more than 40 altcoins, including Ether, Litecoin, Dogecoin and Dash.
Bitwala noted that it offers the least expensive way to use altcoins for international transfers, providing an economical option for the unbanked who wish to send money across borders. Users can make SWIFT or SEPA transfers using altcoins, meaning customers can use them in more than 35 countries.
In addition, Bitwala supports EUR, GBP, DKK, CZK, HRK, PLN, SEK, NOK and HUF currencies to all European countries. It also supports USD transactions globally.
Lots Of Altcoin Interest
The recent blog noted that altcoin projects offer a lot of exciting innovations. Such projects include tradeable tokens to incentivize the resilience and sturdiness of an altcoin’s blockchain. Minus a token, a blockchain doesn’t make a lot of sense, the blog noted.
Other altcoin accepting websites such as BitcoinCommodities have also noted that lack of altcoin use.
The blog noted that Bitwala was not sure of the ease of accepting altcoins. After announcing its altcoin acceptance, it received “decent” coverage and encouraging responses, especially with its announcements about Monero, Dash and Steem. It has posted announcements about Monero, Ethereum, Dash and LBRY.
The Steem support generated $500 USD worth of Steem, a digital currency created to incentivize the use of Steemit, a new experiment in social media. The $500 USD will be donated to charity.
The Monero post delivered the most engaging tweet in August.
But despite the attention, Bitwala did not get a lot of volume from these altcoin posts.
Also read: Bitwala announces global transfers for Ether, Litecoin, Dogecoin and Dash
So Where’s The Business?
Bitwala reported receiving a total of just over 3 BTC, worth around $2,000 USD, in total altcoin business in the past two months. By comparison, bitcoin turnover was $2 million USD in that period. This translates into 0.1% turnover in altcoins.
Bitwala charges a 0.5% flat fee per transaction.
Images from Shutterstock and Bitwala.
