E-Commerce Retailer Fonq.nl Accepts Bitcoin As The Netherlands Continues To Embrace Cryptocurrency
One of the most powerful forces driving the use of bitcoin as a currency is ecommerce, and one of the world’s most bitcoin-progressive countries is the Netherlands. Hence, it comes as no surprise that one of the Netherlands most prominent ecommerce merchants, Fonq.nl, now accepts bitcoin.
Go to www.fonq.nl and you can purchase gifts, housewares and fashion merchandise using bitcoin in addition to a number of other payment options. Shoppers can pay with iDeal (an online payment service), credit card, PayPal and bank transfer, post-delivery, and now bitcoin.
The fact that the Dutch ecommerce retailer didn’t make a big splash about bitcoin might say something about the widespread use of bitcoin in the Netherlands.
At the time of publishing, there is no announcement about bitcoin on the fon.nl website.
BitPay Tweets About Fona.nl
The development came to people’s attention today when BitPay tweeted about it. And as of today, BitPay does not mention fonq.nl on its website either.
Fonq.nl operates four online stores in Europe, according to ecommercenews.eu . In addition to its Netherlands business, the company has ecommerce websites in Belgium, Germany and France. Ecommercenew.eu noted that bitcoin payments are only accepted on the Dutch ecommerce site.
Fonq.nl is part of RFS, which is the second largest ecommerce company in the Netherlands.
Fonq.nl joins a lengthy list of Dutch retailers accepting bitcoin.
CCN.com reported one year ago that the Dutch city Arnhem has the first supermarket that accepts bitcoin, the Spar Arnhem Centraal. Arnhem bills itself as “Bitcoincity,” the world’s most bitcoin-friendly city. The website has a map designating numerous retail locations that accept bitcoin. Coinmap shows close to 100 Arnhem locations that accept bitcoin.
Also read: Netherlands startup launches email postage scheme using bitcoin
The Netherlands Embraces Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency continue to gain exposure in the Netherlands.
Next week, Amsterdam will host the second annual Bitcoin Film Festival, which will feature films about bitcoin and digital currency, according to Bitcoin Wednesday, an organization that holds monthly bitcoin meetings. The festival, sponsored by Bitcoin Wednesday and Bitfilm, is part of a global tour of 16 cities.
The Netherlands is also home to “The Bitcoin Embassy,” a non-profit educational center in Amsterdam where people can attend bitcoin seminars, buy bitcoin, and use a bitcoin ATM. The center is sponsored by BitPay, Blocktrail, Rubion and MrBitcoin.
In addition to claiming widespread use of bitcoin, the Netherlands boasts two “national” cryptocurrencies: Gulden and Guldencoin.
Images from Shutterstock and Fonq.nl
