As Amazon offers deep discounts this Prime Day, a few crypto companies are also rewarding their users through special deals during the two-day eCommerce extravaganza.
Fold, a payments platform that recently introduced a lightning network protocol, is offering a $5 Amazon gift card for clients that spend over $50 through its platform.
“Our goal with the promo is to incentivize more people to get onboarded into the lightning ecosystem and show off our incredible new lightning payments experience,” founder Will Reeves said.
Spend $50 or more at Amazon via Fold and we’ll drop a $5 Amazon card into your account during #PrimeDayAmazon ⚡️?️⚡️ pic.twitter.com/8KjngiVKNG
— Fold (@fold_app) July 15, 2019
The company created a solution which allows it to connect with online and in-store sales systems to enable its users to transact with major retailers – including Amazon, Whole Foods, and Southwest Airlines – in bitcoin.
Since launching a week ago, Fold’s lightning network sees transaction volumes above $1,000 per day, “which makes up a nice portion of our total daily transactions,” he said.
Fold will limit one gift card per account, which do not require KYC processing and can be deposited anonymously. At press time, the company has paid out around $100 in gift cards.
Moon, a platform for crypto payments exclusively through the Amazon marketplace, is offering a 5 percent discount on all transactions for what they’re calling “Crypto Prime Day.” CEO Ken Kruger said:
“We figured that offering a 5 percent discount on Prime Day would both reward the hodlers and also incentivize folks to learn more about crypto. Who doesn’t want to save an extra 5 percent? Maybe you have a friend who’s been skeptical about Bitcoin and that extra 5 percent off on Prime Day is just the incentive needed to get them to give it a try. Adoption is good for everyone.”
Moon’s 4,000 users will also receive Amazon Prime Day discounts even without Prime membership. The platform operates through a Lightning Network wallet of the user’s choice or through a user’s Coinbase account to make purchases directly from their Coinbase wallets.
Though the company is operating at a slight loss to run this promotion, Kruger believes it’s “worthwhile to promote adoption and to demonstrate crypto’s utility as a medium of exchange at the largest eCommerce retailer in the world.”
Consumers aren’t the only winners in this arrangement. Kruger said several merchants have contacted the company to roll out discounts on the platform for consumers who decide to pay with crypto for future events.
While Moon is currently only available on Amazon.com, the company will expand its offerings to “new merchants in the coming weeks, like Nike” and will expand international access through Amazon.ca and Amazon.co.uk.
Launched in 2014, Purse, a marketplace that connects those looking to buy bitcoin with a credit card with users willing to sell bitcoin in exchange for savings on Amazon purchases, claims the tagline: “Everyday is Prime Day.”
While co-founder Andrew Lee said the firm isn’t offering discounts in honor of the eCommerce holiday, he said users of the platform can save an average of 15 percent on their Amazon purchases.
Additionally, the natural dynamics of the market mean shoppers today are benefiting. More people looking to convert their bitcoin for giftcards during a week where the cryptocurrency’s price has slid 10 percent, means people are receiving about “$100 of Prime products for $80 worth of bitcoin.”
Lee also said that despite the shaky market, and “narrative around HODLing,” Purse has completed a record month. He declined to share revenue figures, but said the firm takes a 3-4 percent fee for transactions.
Amazon app image via Shutterstock