Giftcoin, a new cryptocurrency shopping platform, today announced it will launch its inaugural product after receiving initial funding from angel investors. The product is a first-of-its-kind digital gift card whose value is linked to a cryptocurrency rather than a fixed dollar amount, allowing it to increase in value over time. It is slated to be available for public download on the Apple App Store in August.
In just a few clicks, anyone can send a Giftcoin Card to their family, friends, or coworkers that they can spend online or in stores. In the Giftcoin app, they simply select the retailer, the amount, and the cryptocurrency to link it to, and it will instantly be available for use through the Giftcoin app or Apple Pay at checkout. Unlike normal gift cards, Giftcoin Cards are able to gain value as the value of the currency increases, making it the only gift card whose balance can grow. In addition, each transaction itself will be tied to crypto, so users will earn between 1% and 3% "cash back" in crypto for every purchase they make.
Founded in January 2022, Giftcoin's mission is to make crypto fun, easy, and rewarding to use in the real world. Cofounders Justin Lockwood and Bill Rose believe cryptocurrency has thus far been a niche category that largely caters to the investor class, lacking the kind of real-life applications that would enable its mainstream adoption. With Giftcoin, the duo aims to serve the millions of people who want to explore crypto – but who may be intimidated by exchanges, keys and wallets – and make it meaningful in their everyday lives.
"Most of crypto is about investing. What was hailed as a decentralized system that could change finance instead has been turned into a get-rich-quick scheme for crypto bros," said Lockwood, the company's CEO. "There is nothing that exists today that gives people a fun and easy way to give and spend crypto at their favorite stores, so that's what we built. Giftcoin is 'crypto for the rest of us.'"
Only six months after founding the company, Lockwood and Rose have achieved numerous milestones. Apart from completing the first iteration of their product, they've also grown their team to seven people, secured a banking partner, and raised their first tranche of pre-seed funding from prominent angel investors including tech pioneer Keith Teare, executive and entrepreneur Craig Forman, and executive and investor Steve Wadsworth. The company is continuing to actively raise capital to grow and further develop its crypto products.
Giftcoin has also secured a partnership with Solid Financial Technologies, Inc., which will provide additional banking and cards infrastructure support as they continue to build innovative new financial products that bring crypto to the masses.
"After a lot of hard work, we're thrilled to be able to bring Giftcoin to everyone," added Lockwood. "We're grateful to our early backers and partners for helping us reach this milestone."
