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Guldencoin Gains Widespread Acceptance In The Netherlands

Last Updated
Lester Coleman
Last Updated

Guldencoin, a national cryptocurrency in the Netherlands, has established a strong level of acceptance among Dutch businesses. Named after the longstanding guilder Dutch currency that the euro replaced in 2002, Amsterdam-based Guldencoin bills itself as a national cryptocurrency. Customers can pay with Guldencoins and merchants can be paid in euros.

Launched in April of 2014, Guldencoin has gained a large following among Dutch merchants and ranks as the world’s 69th largest cryptocurrency in terms of capitalization, according to coinmarket cap.

To accept Guldencoin, merchants create a LitePaid account. LitePaid is a digital currency platform that allows users to choose which digital currencies to accept. The LitePaid dashboard provides an overview of all transactions and the choice to receive daily payout in euros or Guldencoin. To complete a transaction, the shop clerk enters the payment amount in euros and a QR code displays. The customer scans the QR code with his or her smartphone and completes payment. For amounts over 500 euro, the merchant must check to be sure the transaction is accepted. LitePaid sends an automated email to confirm acceptance.

Use Guldencoin where bitcoin is used

Guldencoin’s following stands to grow even more with the recent introduction of an online platform, nocks.nl, which allows Guldencoin to be used wherever bitcoin is accepted. The Nocks website (nocks.nl) allows bitcoin users to fill out the bitcoin amount, provide the bitcoin payment address and click “betalen” (“pay”). Users can also scan the bitcoin QR code using the scan QR option, which also works on Android and iPhones. Nocks was launched by entrepreneurs Roel Buerra and Patrick Kivits. The Nocks website will soon be available in English, according to Buerra.

Nocks also plans to allow Guldencoin users to use bitcoin wherever Guldencoin is accepted.
“We’re planning to launch and announce it in a week or two,” said Buerra.

“That way, Guldencoin’s merchants such as the Subway restaurants, Coffee Central and the 80 other (and growing) merchants can receive bitcoin users without having to actually accept bitcoin in their place. This way, we make life easier for both users and entrepreneurs, not dealing with choosing the ‘right’ coin but just selling what they have to offer and let users decide how they want to pay.”

“The rising of digital currency and the interest for the familiar gulden are what made us so driven to develop the Guldencoin,” the Guldencoin website explains. “We see it as a great challenge to bring back the gulden in the Netherlands as the digital Guldencoin next to the already existing euro.” Guldencoin is not intended as a replacement for the euro, but an alternative.

Guldencoin team members include: Rijk Plasman, founder and designer; Hilmar Kistemaker, founder and developer; Geert-Johan Riemer, developer; Rits Plasman, developer; and Job Beumer, representative.

The Guldenwallet is available at App Store in the Netherlands.

Merchants can promote in stores

Merchants can download the Guldencoin logo from the website and display it in their stores.

To promote itself, Guldencoin offers rewards to merchants who accept the cryptocurrency.

The Guldencoin website lists 60 merchants that accept Guldencoin. Customers can buy food (including several Subway sandwich shops), coffee, website services, apparel, books, wine, tattoo removal, hair removal, leather gadgets, educational gadgets, three-dimensional printing, cameras, games, gold, silver, barbecue equipment and accessories, and more.

According to coinmarket.cap, Guldencoin as of Feb. 25 ranked 69th largest cryptocurrency in capitalization with $245,521 at a price of $538.

Also read: The first bitcoin supermarket in Arnhem, The Netherlands

Holland has more than one cryptocurrency

Guldencoin is not the only Dutch cryptocurrency that references the traditional Dutch currency. There is also electronic Gulden.

The guilder was the currency of the Netherlands from the 17th century until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. Between 1999 and 2002, the guilder was officially a “national subunit” of the euro.