Bitcoin mining firm BitNile (NILE) plans to set up a bitcoin-based marketplace in the first half of next year aiming to reduce the complexity of conducting transactions in bitcoin.

BitNile intends for the marketplace to be a multi-vendor e-commerce platform, available on a mobile phone or web application that can provide multiple services including payment processing, according to an announcement on Thursday.

The Last Vegas-based firm is seeking to make using bitcoin for transactions more attractive both by making it convenient and by offering lower transaction fees than those in traditional e-commerce.

BitNile may also be looking to diversify its business away from bitcoin mining, given the squeeze on margins the industry has experienced in recent months with bitcoin's depressed price and high energy costs.

The grim outlook was compounded further earlier this week when the Bitcoin network's mining difficulty surged to an all-time high, meaning it has never been harder for miners to extract new bitcoin.

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