Bitcoin Startup Purse to Shut Down After 6-Year Run

Bitcoin shopping startup Purse will shut down after six years in the space, according to an email sent to customers Thursday and confirmed by CoinDesk.

AccessTimeIconApr 16, 2020 at 8:01 p.m. UTC
Updated May 9, 2023 at 3:07 a.m. UTC

Bitcoin startup Purse will shut down after six years in the space, according to an email sent to customers Thursday and confirmed by CoinDesk.

“We’ve made the very difficult decision to dissolve the company,” the email states. “We’re grateful for the opportunity afforded by our supporters to build products and infrastructure for the cryptocurrency community.”

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  • Purse offered discounts of up to 5 percent at Amazon by connecting Amazon gift card holders and cryptocurrency investors. Users could buy gift cards at discounted rates using bitcoin or bitcoin cash, according to Purse’s website.

    “It was a business decision, nothing funky going on,” Purse support manager Eduardo Gómez said in a Twitter DM. Purse will disclose more information in a forthcoming blog post, he added.

    Purse will continue to facilitate services until June 26 but signups will cease Thursday. Additionally, the startup’s “Shop and Earn” functionality will be disabled next week on April 23 and open orders that have not been matched will be canceled, the email states.

    As CoinDesk previously reported, Purse was once an active developer in the Bitcoin community. The firm proposed a third scaling solution called “extension blocks” during the 2017 debates that spawned Bitcoin Cash. The extension blocks specification was never adopted, however.

    Gómez said the decision to wind down the company was not related to the recent move by Amazon to slash commissions on its affiliate program.

    UPDATE (April 13, 1:00 UTC): A previous version of this article mislabeled Purses scaling solution. The article has been updated to reflect the change.

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    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


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