UPDATED 15:01 EDT / AUGUST 17 2017

EMERGING TECH

Bitcoin wallet Blockchain.info adds Ethereum support

The popular Bitcoin digital wallet Blockchain.info is opening its doors to a new digital currency today: Ethereum.

According to the company’s blog, nothing will change for existing bitcoin users. People will simply be able to use the same interface to deposit and withdraw Ethereum’s cryptocurrency coin ether as well.

“Using the same user-friendly interface, you can now seamlessly toggle between bitcoin and ether,” said Peter Smith, co-founder and chief executive officer of Blockchain Luxembourg S.A. “To keep it simple, the ether experience will mirror the bitcoin experience.”

Founded in 2011, Blockchain Luxembourg operates one of the most popular bitcoin digital wallets on the web. It has seen repeated booms in user signups over the past six years and now houses over 16 million wallets – almost double the number of users from last year.

Until today, Blockchain.info worked only with bitcoin wallets. This makes Ethereum the first alternate cryptocurrency for the company to add to its interface.

This year, Ethereum saw a spectacular rise in popularity and value. The market share for the currency hit approximately $390 per ETH on June 12, a rise of more than 4,000 percent from under $8 at the end of 2016. The number of transactions on the Ethereum network also jumped from an average of 38,000 per day in January to a new peak of more than 413,000 this month. The market for bitcoin has seen a similar rise in popularity in market share, skyrocketing recently to exceed almost $4,000 per BTC.

Bitcoin has been lauded by its community for its potential to act as currency for exchange and a store of value, among other innovative uses such as being used as a global indelible transactional distributed ledger. In contrast, Ethereum’s prototypical concept is to be the underlying platform and currency for apps, smart contracts and distributed, autonomous business models.

Ethereum is currently used as the foundation for many distributed ledger ventures on the market seeking to allow users and businesses to hash out contracts that can execute themselves. Using a smart contract, two entities – be they people, businesses or even automated systems – can enter into an agreement that will self-execute upon the realization of specific terms.

Since Ethereum’s currency, the ether or ETH, is used in the exchange during these contracts, it becomes the unit of exchange. Ether can also be easily traded for other cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoins, on exchanges or also for local currency such as dollars.

As a result, Blockchain.info is also adding the capability for wallet users to exchange bitcoins for ether within the interface itself.

”For users looking to acquire ether, we’re excited to introduce a built-in BTC to ETH — and vice versa — exchange,” said Peter Smith. “Accessible directly within your Blockchain wallet, this integration makes it easy for users to acquire both digital currencies and monitor exchange progress, from start to finish.”

This internal exchange will be powered by ShapeShift AG, a popular registrationless cryptocurrency exchange built by entrepreneur Erik Voorhees.

ShapeShift also allows Jaxx Wallet users to exchange cryptocurrencies internally and recently partnered with Overstock.com to let home décor shoppers use digital currencies to buy everything from rugs to bedspreads.

The new Ethereum wallet capabilities are immediately available to all Blockchain.info users.

Image: Ethereum Project

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