Today, Blockchain.info proudly announced it has surpassed two million wallet users. This makes Blockchain the first in the industry to pass this milestone.

In late October 2013, Blockchain.info hit 500,000 users; then January this year Blockchain.info announced one million wallet users. A little over six months later and the site has exceeded two million. Part of this has been driven by the return of the Blockchain wallet to iOS, which brought over 41,000 downloads in the first week of reinstatement.

Those six months have also been filled with announcements that include growing adoption of bitcoin by big business. 2014 started with a boom as Overstock.com set the trend, shortly thereafter TigerDirect followed, Dish Network joined in June, and the addition of Dell made even more noise in July. No doubt these major services and merchants provide much of the fuel for bitcoin adoption in the US.

On this point, Blockchain COO Peter Smith agrees.

“With more major companies and merchants accepting bitcoin, it further confirms bitcoin’s legitimacy, and provides a genuine, practical value to our consumers,” Smith said in an e-mail to SiliconAngle. “Additionally, we are seeing really strong growth outside the US and expect international markets to drive our growth over the next few years.”

Some major merchants listed above also see markets outside the US as lucrative. While most only accept BTC for US purchases, TigerDirect opened bitcoin payments to Canada, and Overstock.com will soon be opening bitcoin purchases to international customers.

Bitcoin’s biggest challenge is mainstream integration

Even with Overstock, TigerDirect, and Dell climbing aboard the bandwagon, Bitcoin still gets a decidedly geeky and unsavory reputation in the mainstream media. While Smith sees that merchant adoption is leading mainstream legitimacy, he also argues that to break into the public consciousness bitcoins need to be more intuitive and safer to use.

Wallets, such as Blockchain, sit in the perfect space to improve this user experience and make bitcoins feel more like money. As bitcoins do not have a tangible aspect and the private keys to their use can reside on a device (and can therefore be lost or stolen) there’s a customer safety issue to address.

“Consumer perception around security is an issue as well,” Smith said, and quickly added, “–the industry as a whole has struggled with it.”

Blockchain therefore seeks to provide a solution to those concerns while also delivering a superior customer experience. With a secure app available on web, Android, and iOS, Blockchain hopes to make bitcoin transactions available to the widest audience possible.

The Blockchain wallet service includes double-encryption to protect customer interests, one-click backups to avert potential loss, payment notifications for bitcoin sent or received and even charts and analytics for business users (or even the curious.)