Bitcoin, ether, dash and litecoin can now be purchased at over 1,800 post office locations throughout Austria. This is possible due to a partnership between bitcoin broker Bitpanda and Austria’s leading postal service provider, Austrian Post.
Also read: Japanese Bitcoin Exchange Bitpoint Expands into Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan
1,800+ Postal Locations
European bitcoin broker Bitpanda was founded in October 2014 as Coinimal. The Vienna startup rebranded as Bitpanda in June 2016. The company claims to have over 300,000 users currently, with almost 200 million euros in transaction volume.
On Tuesday, Bitpanda announced that bitcoin, ether, dash, and litecoin can now be purchased at all postal locations throughout Austria. According to the Post’s website, there are “more than 1,800 postal branches and Austrian Post partners throughout Austria.”
Bitpanda believes that by partnering with the Post, it will increase both its user base as well as its transaction volume. The company’s co-founder Eric Demuth said:
Digital currencies will become central points in our daily lives, but they are not in conflict with classical currencies.
Buying Bitpanda Vouchers
At any post office counter in Austria, customers can buy Bitpanda’s paper vouchers in denominations of 50, 100 or 500 euros. After purchasing, they will receive a code per voucher to redeem for their choice of the four cryptocurrencies on the Bitpanda website.
This service is called “Bitpanda to go” and is exclusively offered through the Post. “All you need is an email address,” the company explained. There are currently three verification levels; starter, bronze, and gold. A fourth level, silver, will be coming soon. Only the starter level is needed to redeem vouchers, which only requires an email address to verify. For other services, “the verification level of your account determines how many bitcoins you can buy/sell each day. A higher verification level will lead to higher limits in your account,” the company detailed.
Other Redemption Cards
Bitpanda is not the first to offer physically-sold, redeemable vouchers for bitcoin. In nearby France, the European bitcoin broker Bitit offers prepaid gift cards for euros that work similarly to Bitpanda’s vouchers. The cards are now part of a network of physical gift cards that are sold at over 150,000 locations across Europe, according to the exchange.
South Korea’s Coinplug exchange also sells bitcoins at convenience stores. Their vouchers called Okbitcards are available at over 4,000 7-11 and Ministop locations across the country, redeemable through a smartphone app. In Canada, Bitaccess offers a similar service using Flexepin vouchers at 6,000 locations.
In next-door Switzerland, the nation’s federal railway company, SBB, started selling bitcoins directly from their ticketing kiosks late last year.
What do you think about Austrian Post selling vouchers redeemable for cryptocurrencies? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Transport & Logistics Magazine, and La Maison du Bitcoin
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